Born from Jealousy
by Hahs
Summary: It isn't just Artemis who we thought would never have a child. When Zeus leaves Hera once again to spend time with a mortal woman, Hera decides to have a baby of her own; a half-blood child. But what happens when Zeus finds out? BACK FOR GOOD! D
1. Gathering

**AUTHORS UPDATE; A dictionary definition of "Parthenogenesis"; a form of reproduction, especially in plants, insects, and arthropods, in which a female gamete develops into a new individual without fertilization by a male gamete. Also very frequent with Greek mythology.**

**Please read, review, and enjoy! (:**

She'd known it was going to happen – she'd seen it coming. That's the entire reason why she had put on her most wonderful gown, and that was why she had taken extra time plaiting her with gold ribbons. That's why she'd woken him that morning with a kiss, and told him she loved him.

"I'm going out," he'd replied gruffly, climbing out of bed and pulling on the nearest clothes he could find.

She slipped out of bed and wrapped a golden dressing-gown around her body. "When will you be back?" she asked tentatively.

"I don't know," he said dully while examining his reflection in a large mirror.

Biting her lip, she pressed further. "I was hoping we could do something tonight, dear, just the two of us-"

"For goodness sake, Hera!" he exploded unexpectedly, flailing his arms around them dramatically. "I'm going out whether you like it or not!" Thunder crackled outside the window; lightening illuminated the room. "I don't know when I'll be back!"

"But, dear, I just thought-"

"This _marriage_," he snarled, completely ignoring her, "is more hard work than it's worth. I'm sick of it, Hera, I really am! Don't wait up for me." He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, making everything in the room shake.

So there Hera sat, one hour later, in her throne room. Despite being as rigid as a statue, she looked glorious, with her chocolate-brown hair platted with golden bows, wearing her favourite white dress that shimmered like oil on water. For once, she didn't care how she looked.

She was completely alone, for a change. Not even her most precious peacock, Lysander, was by her side, and he always accompanied her in the throne room. Always.

He was gone. Again.

Off with some mortal woman, no doubt. Hera'd thought they'd been doing well lately; foolishly, she'd thought that all of their marriage counselling had finally paid off, when obviously nothing had changed between them – other than the fact she'd clearly become more gullible.

_"I'm sick of it, Hera, I really am!"_

Those words sliced through her like an ice-cold, rusty blade. What did that mean? Was he sick of not going out? Hard work? The marriage itself? _Her_, even? She didn't know. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know what he'd meant. It was just too much.

The door creaked loudly as the guard satyr peered nervously inside. "Lady Hera?" he almost squealed. "Um, you're Majesty? Your guests have arrived!"

Finally, she moved, blinking herself out of her daze. "Oh. Very well. Bring them in."

The satyr nodded, visibly trembling, pushing the door wide open and letting Hera's guests enter. Usually, they would have entered in order of importance – however, considering the occasion, there was no "most important". So, Demeter entered first, seen as it _was_ her throne room, too, wearing a long dress that draped along the floor behind her, the same colour as a field of wheat.

Next came Rhea – a powerful Titan goddess with long, curly silver hair and soft brown eyes. She wore a baby-pink gown that hugged her modestly; her arms were folded across her chest as she entered the room, looking around with a pleased expression.

Following her was Leto, her eyes wary, for she was not on the best of terms with the host. She had hair that was both the colour of sunlight and soft auburn, seeming to shimmer in the light. Her curvaceous figure was clothed in a teal-blue, silk gown that floated to the ground like a wave of an ocean; it strained against her swollen stomach. She had a heart-shaped, sweet face that would have been friendly, had she not been so on-guard.

Last but in no way whatsoever least, Gaea entered. She had a commanding presence, that was only natural from a woman of her intense power – she was, after all, _the_ mother of the Titans. She was as beautiful as Aphrodite with her smooth, mocha-coloured skin and tumbling, dark hair that fell to the base of her back in loose waves. Her eyes were large and almond-shaped, the colour of moss, framed by thick, curved lashes. Over her tall, curved figure was a traditional, ivory coloured Greek toga, which was trimmed with gold. Around her neck and wrists she wore perfect, elegant pearls. Upon her face she had a friendly smile; she approached Hera with open arms.

"Hera, darling! T'is wonderful to see you again!" she beamed joyfully, wrapping Hera in a friendly embrace.

"A delight to see you again, Lady Gaea," Hera beamed in reply, apparently just as overjoyed to see her. "Thank you ever so much for coming on such short notice."

Hera turned to Rhea, who was standing with her arms folded neatly across her chest, lips pursed. "Mother," she said softly. "It has been far too long."

Rhea put her hands on Hera's face, peering at her closely and assessing her carefully. "You look well enough, daughter," she decided. "How are they treating you here?"

"Well," she replied, turning to Demeter. "Sister! Where have you been? I've not seen you for two weeks!"

Demeter kissed Hera on the cheek politely, brushing her hair out of her face and sighing. "The Underworld, of all the places."

Hera patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I feel for you," she said seriously.

Finally, she turned to Leto and raised her eyebrows. "I trust that is not my husbands?" she said a little sourly, gesturing at her large stomach.

"Of course not," Leto replied curtly, cradling her bump. "Some of us learn from their mistakes."

"Let's hope you have," Hera said darkly.

Gaea stepped between them, where the tension was thickest. "Calm, daughters, calm! We are not here to dwell on past matters."

"_Technically_," Demeter butt in, "We are."

"You know what I meant," Gaea told her bluntly.

"Why don't you go sit yourself down, dear?" Rhea asked with a smile. "Take your place on your throne, eh?"

Hera nodded. Whether she was a goddess or not, she would still listen to her mother. She walked back to her throne and took seat, waving her hand so that four comfortable, black leather chairs appeared just in front of her. "Take a seat."

They did as she asked, seeing as she was the host. For a moment, things were quiet.

"I suppose you know why I've asked you to come here?" she asked.

"Vaguely," Demeter replied.

"A little," Leto said.

"Of course!" Gaea beamed.

Rhea nodded, her hair bouncing.

Hera managed a smile. "Good. Things haven't improved with Zeus, and I fear they're actually getting worse."

Leto made a strange sound in the back of her throat, but disguised it with a cough, before replacing her hands on her bump and rubbing it affectionately. "Continue," she said when Hera's eyes turned coldly onto her.

"As I was saying, they've not improved. He's most likely with a mortal woman now, and I'm tired of it, I honestly am. I'm faithful to him, and he throws it back in my face. So I have a plan."

"Don't you even think about having an affair, young lady!" snapped Rhea immediately, standing up and stomping forward with her finger pointing. "I did not raise you to be a cheater. Your brother- I mean, your husband- on the other hand is a different case and I blame your father for that, but _you_ are different and don't even think about-"

"Mother!" Hera exclaimed, offended. "I'd never do that! Good grief, I've been the victim of cheating long enough to know it gets you nowhere. And to be a _mistress_," she glared directly at Leto, who turned her eyes away immediately, "Would be an even bigger offence."

"Oh, sorry, dear," Rhea said, shaking her head and replacing herself on the leather chair. "Old age, it's getting to me." She only looked like she was in her twenties, but she was countless centuries old.

Gaea, always optimistic, seemed to brighten up the room every time she spoke. "Of course you're going to stay faithful. You're the most faithful goddess I know, Hera. Now, what's your plan? I'm dying to know why you called us here."

With a sly smile, Hera kept talking. "I have many children, all of whom I am proud of and love."

"With the exception of Hephaestus!" Leto almost squealed with delight. "You threw him off of Olympus because he wasn't good enough at the first chance you got-"

"Thank you, Leto! Now, as I was saying, _all_ of whom I am proud of and love. Ares, Hebe, Eris, Eileithyia, Enyo, and my own son Hephaestus. I have, for a long time, been considering having another child. I thought it would bring myself and Zeus closer, if the time came to need. But now, I'm thinking that perhaps Zeus does not deserve another child."

"Here, here!" Gaea called. "That boy needs to learn some respect for his woman!"

Hera gave her a nodding smile. "My thoughts exactly. However, I still want a child. A baby of my own, one that I can care for and look after. That is what I truly want right now."

Rhea nodded, tapping her chin with long fingers. "Then have one."

Her smile grew even more wicked. "If I have a child, the same way I bore Hephaestus, the child will not need caring for. Us gods are strong; we can fend for ourselves, even at a young age."

Leto narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you insinuating, Hera? You don't want to adopt a mortal, do you?"

"Oh, Zeus, no. I want a half-blood."

"But you need a mortal man for that!" Leto accused. "Don't try and wriggle your way out of this one, Hera – you want to have an affair and you know it!"

"For goodness sake, Leto," Rhea snapped. "Will you lay off and here her out?"

Gaea patted Leto on the hand softly. "Quiet, daughter. Hear her out. I know what she is thinking, and we must listen patiently."

Gaea, being the mother of the Titans, called everyone "daughter" or "son". Leto turned her nose up, but said no more.

"Parthenogenesis," Hera said coyly. "The same way I bore Hephaestus, I plan on bearing a demigod child. I believe this is something I can do. But, I wish to received each of your blessing. Each and every one of you."

"So you wish to conceive a child of your own – a demigod child. I see no problem with this. But, daughter, how does this affect Zeus?"

"Mother Earth, if I'm honest, it does not directly affect my husband. I'm not a spiteful person," (Leto laughed at this, which she chose to ignore,), "Therefore I do not do this spitefully. I _want_ a child of my own, that I can nurture and help. My husband will not like this, but there will be nothing he can do about it. I admit his anger may please me – perhaps he will finally realize how much I love him, perhaps not, - but I do this soully for myself."

"Again, I see no problem. I do not need to know any more. You have _my_ blessing, as Mother of the Earth, to bear such a child."

Hera smiled and turned to Demeter, who had kept suspiciously quiet the entire time. She raised her eyebrows, and Demeter let out a sigh.

"I do not want a war," she said simply. "I don't want tension in our family, either. But I think that Zeus has had this coming for a long time – everybody deserves a piece of happiness. If you have the chance to have a child, seize it and take it. I wish I had more time with my dear Persephone..."

Hera's eyes narrowed, very slightly, at the mention of Persephone, who was also one of her husbands unfaithful children.

Demeter's eyes flashed with sadness. "I think about it, but I'm much too busy these days. Do you realize how much the mortals harvest? It was _so_ much simpler when they didn't have "weetabix" and "kellogs cornflakes"."

Hera pulled her long plait over her shoulders, and cleared her throat loudly, hinting. Demeter rolled her eyes. "Fine. Have a baby by yourself. Just don't make Zeus cause any floods with too much rain, alright?"

"Fine. And you, mother?"

Rhea blinked slowly. "Why would I object? Of course I give you my blessing."

Hera knew her mother would agree; she knew Gaea would agree, and she'd guessed that Demeter would, too; now, as she turned to Leto, she hoped for the same.

Leto's eyes were frosty. "You embarrassed me, Hera, for bearing my two children."

"You had an affair with my husband. What did you expect? You were in the wrong."

"So? There was no need for you to treat me so violently."

Hera knew she wouldn't give in. "You were in the wrong," she said again. "You know that."

Leto actually looked a little ashamed. "I'm the goddess of motherhood. You're asking my blessing, despite how you treated me."

"Yes."

There was a tense silence; Gaea looked extremely sad, like a child who just lost their puppy. "No time for sour grapes, daughters. This is the present; that was a millennia ago."

Hera took a breath; she could feel what was coming.

"Fine," Leto said. "Have the baby. You've got my blessing, but don't expect this truce to last. Once your demigod is born, I go back to the way I was before."

"Thank you," Hera breathed. "Thank you all."

For a while, they sat discussing things; Demeter even gave her input, and Leto toned down her bitter comments, though they didn't cease completely.

So Hera had the blessing of Gaea, Rhea, (goddess of childbirth, fertility and motherhood,), Leto, and Demeter, (goddess of fertility,), and she herself, (goddess of motherhood, childbirth and family,), gave herself her own blessing.

She had no reasons whatsoever not to go along with her plan; no powerful goddess' would claim that it was an abomination. Nobody would be mad at her – nobody except for Zeus, which she secretly was delighted by.

He'd caused her so much pain over the years. She wanted to see how he'd react to this, whether it be for better or for worse.

_"For better or for worse. In sickness and in health. For richer and poorer. Till death do us part."_

She'd been the one to create those words; she'd made them when she fell in love with Zeus and introduced them to the mortal world. Did they even make sense to her anymore? How was she, goddess of marriage, supposed to oversee other marriages when hers was falling apart?

She thought back over all the millennia she had dedicated to him; her mind traced over all the women he'd betrayed her for. The divine women: Aega, Ananke, Demeter, Dione, Gaia, Eos, Eris, Leto, Maia, Metis, Mnemosyne, Persephone, Selene, Themis. And what about all of the mortals? There was: Aegina, Alceme, Antiope, Callisto, Carme, Danae, Elara, Electra, Europa, Eurynome, Himalia, Iodame, Io, Lamia, Laodamia, Leda, Maera, Niobe, Olympias, Othreis, Plouto, Podarge, Pyrrha, Semele, Taygete, Thalia.

So many women, and there were _so_ many more. What about Thalia Grace, the Hunter? She didn't know who her mother was. Was it some mortal already in the list? Was it somebody new? And who was he out with now?

It hurt just to think about it.

She knew what people thought about her. Oh, yes, she knew. Jealous, bitter Hera, the one who hated hero's and threw away ugly children.

Honestly, she got so much press over that Hephaestus story. But he _had_ been hideous. That was what "The Hunchback of Notre Damn" had been based on, though not a lot of people actually knew that.

Yes, she could be jealous. Yes, all she wanted was a perfect family.

But wouldn't you?

Think about it.

You marry the man of your dreams, and he cheats on you. You love him so much you forgive him, because you really believe your marriage can work, but then he just does it again. And again. And again. He's the most unfaithful man in the world, but you can't let him go, so you stick by him through his unfaithful cheating. You live on Olympus, having to work and live alongside the children he's had with these other women, despite how much you despise them, having to act as if it doesn't bother you.

Wouldn't you become paranoid? Wouldn't you become jealous? Wouldn't you be spiteful toward them? Wouldn't you want nothing more than a "perfect" family just to please him, even if that meant tossing your very own child, - the only person in the world who is actually just _yours_ -, back to earth? Just to please him? All of this, in the hope that he'd one day disown his unfaithful ways and become the loving, devoted husband you long for?

That's what life was like for Hera. No matter how hard she tried to fix things, nothing changed it. She would always have hope, _always_, but that didn't mean it didn't make her mad. It didn't mean she wasn't filled with an uncontrollable rage every time she saw people like Leto; it didn't mean she didn't want to cling to his legs and sob when he left Olympus to visit a mortal woman, begging him to stay.

She was strong, but sometimes even the strongest of women fall.

That was why she was having this child. She needed something of her own to bring joy into her life – a rock to dedicate herself to. She needed something to love, to nurture, to care for.

That's why when she went so sleep alone like that night, without her husband to wrap his arm around her, she woke up pregnant.

Pathogenesis is a wonderful thing.


	2. Husband and Wife

Chapter Two; A dangerous game.

The mortal world was thriving; women were conceiving in vast numbers, though it was too soon for them to tell. Men were proposing to their loved ones, making a beautiful oath to dedicate their lives to them forever. Families weren't suffering so much; the recession in England had a lesser effect, and overall the atmosphere in houses seemed, in general, a deal more cheerful.

All of this was down to the goddess' happiness.

Olympus shone gloriously, the way it always did, but Hera did not notice; she was resting in her chamber, most comfortable and relaxed, making the most of her current state. The window was open, allowing a cool breeze to filter through and stir the curtains around her four-poster bed, caressing her skin in a way that only a breeze could. It filled her with a calm, relaxed feeling, which was exactly what she needed for what came next.

The door swung open forcefully; in strode Zeus, back from his trip to the mortal world, wearing his usual pinstripe suite. His cloudy eyes moved quickly, examining the room in a single glance. He gave off an aura of ozone, which Hera was more than used to be now. She found it attractive, even, and incredibly powerful, which only drew her to him more.

"Good morning, dear," Hera said smoothly. She was lying between the sheets of their bed, her arms tucked behind her head, where her hair was loose and spread out along the goose-feather pillows. She seemed to be glowing. "You've been gone over a week."

"Yes. Is that a problem?" he replied immediately with a defensive edge.

She let out a sigh. "As always, it is a problem, but there is nothing _I _can do about it."

"No, unfortunately for you, you can't." He nodded sharply, though his eyes were wary; confused. He moved away, striding toward the window and peering out with the air of someone highly important. Arrogance, you might call it. Superiority, some others may.

Hera fought back a smile. She was playing a dangerous game and she knew it – but, oh, how thrilling games could be... "Would you like something to eat? I'll get you anything you want." She moved her hand effortlessly through the air, where a platter of food instantly appeared – it's image flickered, from a platter of pomegranate to meat, vegetables, cereal, pasta...

"I'm fine, thank you, wife."

'Wife' he called her. How demeaning. Back in their first millennia of marriage it delighted her when he called her that; of course, back then he'd said it with love and affection. Now? It was simply a label. A label she felt as if she was forced to wear by her own deadweight heart...

The food instantly disappeared. "Very well. So, where did you go? What did you do? I want to know everything!" Although she beamed while she said it and did so in a happy-go-lucky tone, she meant the words bitterly, and there was an icy glare in her eyes.

"The mortal world," he said.

"And what did you do?"

_More like 'who' did he do,_ a voice in her mind said sourly; she glanced to the corner of the room where her prize peacock Lysander stood silently, his royal-blue and sunset-violet feathers curled up against his body. He'd been so quiet she'd almost forgotten he was there, and so she gave him a slightly amused but serious look.

"Nothing interesting."

"Of course, of course."

Zeus said nothing; Hera tried a different approach, making her tone loving and warm. "I've missed you, dear. Come here to me."

As expected, Zeus turned around with one of his dark eyebrows raised. Almost hesitantly he looked back to the window, before crossing the room in three long strides to stand by her bedside, taking her hand when she offered it to him. She had no bitterness in her eyes; they were purely gentle.

Zeus kissed her hand the way he hadn't done for _such_ a long time that it tugged on her heartstrings painfully; reminding her of all the things she loved about him. "Don't you mind where I've been?" he asked her.

"I mind," she said simply. "But I've had other things on my mind."

"Such as?"

"Nothing important," she dismissed with a smile that soon turned seductive. "I _have_ missed you, dear Zeus."

Before he could reply she reached up toward him, careful not to jostle herself or move the covers, and placed her hands on his cheeks. Taking the hint, he reached down and she kissed him the way she had when they'd been so in love they made Aphrodite proud. It brought back a thousand memories, throbbing heavily in her chest and sending her brain haywire. The tough, steel exterior Zeus fought so hard to keep up gradually started to fade away; he let himself melt into the embrace, pulling her closer and holding her against him.

And then he stopped.

All too soon, he pulled away and stared at her with wide eyes, stuck between shock, horror and utter disgust.

Hera wore a gold silk nightie; it hugged her stomach, where a small but noticeable bump had grown. Her hands fluttered down toward it and she gazed at her husband with a somewhat amused look. "What's the problem, Zeus? Don't you like my clothes?"

Zeus pointed, his finger trembling. "Wha- what is that?"

"What do you think it is? A bee sting?"

"It's not... That's not... It isn't mine...?"

She laughed lightly, like tinkling bells. "Of course not. You haven't been here, have you?"

For the tiniest of moments, Zeus could only stare. His eyes bulged out of his head; his mouth mashed into a hard line. Skin turning the colour of lava, he clenched his fists rigidly by his sides; a terrible black anger bubbled within him.

"Whose. Is. _That_?" he growled through gritted teeth. "You_ dare_ cheat on _me_? You _dare_ betray my trust? You-"

"Get over yourself," she said in a flat voice, dropping her false smile and happy eyes. She was kneeling on her bed, body only millimetres away from his, but he towered over her in an intimidating way, and she didn't like that. "Do you really think I'd throw away everything I believe in just to please myself with another man?"

"But you- that thing- I haven't- you haven't-"he stuttered, half with rage and half with confusion. "How could-? What did-? _Who did this to you?_"

"Nobody did this to me," she told him honestly, but he wasn't listening.

"Who did it, Hera? Who did it? Tell me now so I can tear him limb from limb and burn his ashes; tell me so that I can unleash a fury-"

"'Unleash a fury so intense he'll never breathe again'. Yeah, yeah, Zeus. Heard it all before. Nobody "did this" to me. This is my own doing. This is my own decision."

"What the Underworld do you mean, "this is my own decision"? You've not..." He trailed off, mouth dropping open like a fish and eyes full of something he hardly ever revealed in his face; fear. "You haven't. Tell me you haven't."

"Haven't what?" she demanded, slipping from the bed and striding away toward the window, the exact same way he had only minutes before.

The view was breathtaking, of course, but she did not take time to appreciate it.

"Haven't had a baby... Like... Like Hephaestus... Have you?"

No reply.

He was behind her in only a second, placing his hands on her shoulders with forced softness and murmuring in her ear. "Have you, Hera?"

She nodded slowly. "I have."

Perhaps it was Zeus; or perhaps it was thunder, but something roared spontaneously, making the entire room tremble as a flash of blinding light illuminated Olympus; the flash was so intense and fearsome and _loud_ that Hera knew it was visible in the mortal world; no, it was more than visible, it was literally _in_ the mortal world, crackling and burning and reeking havoc on an unsuspecting victim. Lightening.

"There goes another mortal," she said sourly. "Another loss in a family. Another tragedy I have to deal with. Zeus, will you ever learn?"

She turned to face him and almost flinched, for his face was so retorted with a cauldron of emotions it was difficult to pick one out individually. Had she not known Zeus so well; had she not ruled by his side for countless millennia; had she not been the Queen of Heaven and therefore phenomenally powerful herself, she would have cowered in fear at him.

"I know where you went," she hissed, narrowing her eyes and letting all the venom that had been building up inside of her pour out. "I know exactly what you've been up to, _dear_. What was her name this time? Clara? Simone?"

In his obvious fury, Zeus choked out, "Helen."

"Ah, Helen!" she snarled. "_Helen_ is your next victim then, is she? Another mistress to add to the long list I've been building up all these years?"

"Long list! Now, see here, Hera!-"

"Ananke, Semele, Leto, Maera," she continued, shouting directly in his face, releasing everything. "Io, Thalia, Lamia, Gaia – our own _sister_, Demeter! All of these centuries you've made a laughing stock of me, Zeus, and you have the nerve to act like this when you _think_ I've betrayed you this one time!"

"You're pregnant!" he bellowed back, thunder rippling outside the room. Darkness overcame Olympus. "You've got a child growing inside you that clearly isn't mine and you expect me to be _calm_? How ridiculous can you be, Hera? How selfish?"

"Selfish? _Selfish_? Ha!" She laughed mercilessly, humourlessly, and bitterly. "This is not me being _selfish_, darling husband, this is me doing something for myself for once in a decade – this is my way of telling you I'm tired of your lies, cheating and scandals with other women. This child," she wrapped her hands maternally around her bump, "Is the only thing that is mine in this entire world, and you claim I'm being selfish?"

"Hephaestus!" he barked, stepping back and flailing his arms for effect. "He is yours! He was born through you and you only! He is your own, woman! Do you not understand that I no longer want another Olympian? Are you so much of an imbecile that it doesn't register in your jealous mind that we do not need another godling?"

"This is NOT a godling!" she screamed right in his face, stepping forward so that their noses were only inches apart. "My child is a half-blood and I'm going to nurture it like a true mother nurtures their child! I will kiss it better when it is born. I will watch it grow and bloom into something wonderful. I will morn its death when it passes on and then I'll be happy because, for once, life has sprung from me and life has passed from me!"

Zeus marched over to the bed and sat down, head in his hands, pulling on his hair in frustration and disbelief. Never before had Hera stood up to him that way; by now she'd usually admit she was wrong and forgive him for his sorrows. Why was she choosing now to act like a "strong" woman? Bah, strong woman, indeed! "You are _unbelievable_," he cursed, before sighing and speaking more softly. "You're unbelievable, Hera. Why would you do this to me?"

"I'm not doing this to you," she promised him, taking a seat by his side through her deep breathing as she calmed down. "I'm doing this for myself. I need something of my own, and this is all I can have. Please, dear. Don't make me take this away." Her voice almost broke when she realized just how sincerely she meant it, but she regained her calm. Now was not the time for tears.

"Keep it," Zeus said in the gentlest voice he could manage, though the words did still come out harsh. "Do what you want with it. But expect me to treat it no differently from the rest. Do not expect me to love the thing."

He swiftly strode out of the room, leaving Hera alone on the edge of the bed. Lysander immediately skittered to her side, fanning his feathers impressively and whispering caringly in her mind.

She reached out to stroke his soft feathers, and began to cry.

Partly with anger; partly with joy. Partly for the sadness and the jealousy that had overflowed from within her; partly for the fear of realizing how severe that conversation had really been. And partly for the mortals, who had suffered a terrible thunder-and-lightening storm in his rage, and a disastrous bout of blizzards in hers.

But mostly, she cried with joy.


	3. Birth

Chapter Three; There are some things even the gods can't predict.

One thing you may or may not know is that the pregnancy of a god is quite a lot faster than the pregnancy of a mortal. Though she had been with child for a mere three weeks, Hera's stomach was large and swollen like that of a seven-month-mortal-pregnancy. Gods pregnancies were defiantly faster, and usually a lot easier, too. It was unusual for a goddess to feel discomfort, or any particularly negative hormones: their pregnancies usually radiated around enjoyment and pleasure. It was supposed to be the most incredible feeling you can have, being a goddess, and it was something that they knew to embrace.

But even Hera knew something was wrong with her baby.

The "feeling" had come at the start on the third week. Usually, she would have appeared as if she'd been with child for five months – actually, she looked as if she was very close to her due date, which immediately set off her maternal worries.

_Was there something wrong with the baby? Was it growing too fast? Would it be premature? Would it be harmed? Would it be ugly?_

Every one of these questions circled through her mind in a constant loop that would have had her panicking – had one strong reply not came with each one.

_You are a goddess. There is nothing wrong with the baby. It is simply big._

She pushed her fears to the back of her mind and ignored them: that was, until she began to feel discomfort.

It started out as discomfort, but it seemed to grow. It changed from a dull annoyance, to a faint pain, to a hard thud that genuinely bothered her.

"What in the world?" she mumbled aloud to herself, rubbing her hands along her swollen stomach and staring down in confusion. "It isn't-? It can't be-?"

_Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud._

The sound was almost like a heartbeat concealed within thick layers of skin – a fast heartbeat that could only bring bad news, however, Hera knew what that fluttery feeling inside of her meant. Though the last time it had been light, as delicate as a butterfly and defiantly not hard and strong, it was defiantly the same thing.

The baby was kicking her.

The baby was kicking her much too fast.

The baby was… The baby was…

_Impossible, _Lysander hissed into her mind from his sanctuary in the corner of the room. Oddly, Lysander seemed to have a direct link to Hera's mind: he could not read her thoughts, but he usually understood her expressions so well that he knew what was troubling her. It was a bond that could only come between a goddess and her senior pet. _You would have already known._

"Would I?" Hera replied, turning her eyes onto him, where he was almost hidden in the shadows. "Or have I been turning a blind eye?"

Bristling his feathers, he said, _You have a point, but don't you think that is a little far fetched? Surely you, my Lady, would have noticed by now? It has been three weeks, after all, my Lady._

"I should have, that's true. I should also have followed my gut feelings, Lysander, and that was something I shall start doing now."

_Really, truly? You believe it?_

With an unflinching stare, she said, "Yes." After, she simply swept out of the room in a wave of golden silk, straight down to the throne room where she knew she would find who she wanted to.

Admittedly, it took her a breath to brace herself for what was to come, but it worked. She strolled into the room upon the breeze of the heaven, feeling calm, confident and ready to fight her own battles.

Two more weeks passed, and Hera could not help but pay attention to every tiny detail of her pregnancy. Every kick, she treasured. Every pang of hunger she felt, every slight itch of thirst, she clicked her fingers and extinguished it with the two things she longed for most: pomegranates and cranberry juice. Apparently, this was what a mortal woman would call a 'craving'.

Rhea couldn't bare the thought of being away from her daughter any longer, arriving at Olympus, slipping straight into the role of Midwife.

Being who she was, she had known what was going to happen weeks before it occurred.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hera groaned once more. "I had a right to know, mother!"

"You should have paid more attention," Rhea told her simply. "You have maternal instincts for a reason."

"Well I know _that_. You're the one that came up with the entire idea of "maternal instincts"."

"Hold on one moment." She held up her hand in a 'be quiet' gesture and cocked her head to the side, as if listening to the breeze coming through the window. "I think I'm receiving something."

"So do I…" Hera's voice rang with curiosity as she copied Rhea's actions. "But it's blurry…?"

"Distant, isn't it?"

"Hmm, yes… Almost as if-" She gasped, eyes wide, as her hands flew to her stomach.

_Almost as if it is a goddess,_ Lysander finished, silently backing away from them toward the door, for he knew it was time for him to leave.

Hera looked around. They were standing in the newly decorated nursery which hadn't quite yet been furnished: all that was there was a large bed, a very pretty Moses basket, and teddy bears arranged in a corner. The walls had been painted to match the sky, clear blue with gentle white clouds, and the ceiling was just the same.

"We aren't ready," she almost croaked.

Rhea placed her hands on her hips and stared at Hera with a stern expression that was all-too familiar. "Now don't you start with this, young lady. You are not your father, are you?"

"Mother, what on earth-"

"No, you are not. So let's think a little less negatively, and a little more positively, shall we?" Surprisingly gently, she pulled Hera over to the bed by the elbow and sat her down while smiling encouragingly. "Now," she said. "Are you a goddess or are you a mortal?"

Frowning, she replied, "I'm obviously a goddess."

"Correct. And what am I, daughter?"

"A titan goddess."

"Why, yes I am. Hera, we are not mortals, nor are we young, insignificant women who do not know what they are doing. This is going to go perfectly smoothly, do you understand? Now, why don't you lay down, dear?"

Perhaps she would have objected, had a very hard kick in her stomach not told her otherwise. Grimacing slightly, she did as she was told and lay back against the soft bedding, not saying a word as Rhea hovered over her protectively.

Now, labour for a goddess is nothing like labour for a mere mortal woman. Of course, the experience for a goddess isn't the most favourable: moments can be filled with an annoying pain, though it is mostly discomfort that bothers said goddess.

Hera hardly felt any pain. She was, after all, a goddess of child birth, and Rhea was _the_ goddess of motherhood and generation, so the pain wasn't very frequent. Discomfort, on the other hand, was another story. Oh, and how much she hated being uncomfortable! She couldn't help but wriggled around and sigh, wishing she were somewhere else doing something more pleasant.

"It's been an hour, Hera," Rhea said softly, stroking her forehead in a soothing manor. "Are you ready?"

"Get it over with," she snapped moodily in reply.

Chuckling to herself, Hera peeled back a part of Hera's dressing gown so that her oddly large stomach was bare. Knowing what she was doing from experience, the titan goddess pointed her index finger and pressed it lightly against the bare skin. Hera in-took her breath sharply as she dragged her nail across it, so that the flesh seemed to split open and move apart quite sickeningly.

For this, Hera kept her eyes tightly closed and focused on keeping her breathing even. Never before had it been this strange – then again, the circumstances had never before been quite the same.

For seven heartbeats, there was no sound. It was silence and tense. She could feel the movements around her and within her, but a numbness banished her from truly feeling. That was simply the way it was.

Tension was rising. What was going on? What was happening? She didn't know. Was something wrong? Had something happened?

And then there it was – sound. A high, shrill, heartbroken cry that echoed off of the walls and rebounded onto Hera's swelling heart.

The sound of a newborn baby crying.

Numbness grew around her but vanished around her chest, where she could feel nothing but an instant joy that filled her completely.

"Let me see-" she choked out, holding up her arms and trying to looking around for him child.

Rhea's silver head bobbed into view, passing a small bundle from her arms to her daughters. In only seconds she had superbly wrapped the child in a white blanket; she really was the greatest Midwife in the world.

Oh, how light the child was! And so small, too. A gut instinct told Hera that the baby was a girl; she was crying restlessly but that didn't matter, because she was possibly the most beautiful sight.

Rhea was moving somewhere around her body, talking, but Hera simply wasn't listening. Her baby, her little girl, looked just like her. A mop of wet, chocolate-coloured hair stuck to her round head: she had her mothers' eyes, the exact same shade and even the same shape.

Then Rhea was there once more, back in her line of vision, smiling so lovingly it made her exquisite. In her arms she held yet another bundle, which did not cry loudly but made a quiet, gurgling sound.

Hera felt her heart hammer against her ribs as Rhea placed the second child into her arms.

"A boy," she smiled down at them, her hands floating nearby as if afraid her grandchildren would disappear.

_A boy,_ Hera thought fondly, tearing her eyes away from her daughter to look at her son. Her daughter. Her son.

No, she had been wrong before. _This_ was the most beautiful sight – the sight of her newborn twins, one staring at her with familiar eyes while the other gurgled through fresh tears.

The boy looked just like his sister, only he was clearly a boy.

Twins. Twins. Twins.

She had twins!

Never before had Hera's heart felt so swollen with adoration and pride, because they were hers. She made them – both of them – all by herself, and that felt incredible.

Hephaestus had been, admittedly, a disappointment. Yes, she loved him. There was no doubt about that, but he had been absolutely hideous, and brought shame upon their family. Whether she liked to admit it or not, that was the truth.

But the twins would not disappoint her like that.

Something tugged on her heart as she brushed against their cheeks, taking in every tiny detail of them as quickly as she could. Their scent was exactly that of a newborn baby, and it smelt positively wonderful.

Rhea, having re-sealed Hera's stomach without her even noticing, wrapped her dressing down back around her stomach. "What will you do?" she asked quietly.

Hera didn't have to ask to know what she meant. She reluctantly moved her eyes away from her babies and stared at her mother. "Zeus doesn't know. He hasn't been here."

"Oh, Hera!" moaned Rhea. "Why didn't you tell him? We both know he will-"

"He's been with a woman. When he comes home, I'll tell him."

Nodding steadily, Rhea cleared her throat and came closer to look at her grandchildren. "They're wonderful. Do you want me to leave you now? I'll come back later, yes?"

Throat suddenly feeling very try, she said, "Yes."

In a sweep of silk, the titan goddess swept from the room, pausing at the door to say one word: "Thea." With that, she left. The door closed and Hera looked down once more.

She adored them already. She felt so much love for them it was almost painful – and that was okay. She was their mother, after all, and every mother feels affection like that.

Only, she was a goddess – her love was intensified.

"Hello, pretty girl," she cooed to her baby girl, who yawned silently. "Hello beautiful."

Almost as if fighting for attention, her baby boy let out a sudden cry. Moving carefully so that they were lying safely on her knees, she reached out and squeeze his small, chubby fingers. "You're a handsome little boy, aren't you? Yes you are."

During her pregnancy, like every woman, she'd thought constantly about baby names. Deciding that, seeing as her child would be half-mortal, she would give them a more "common" or "normal" mortal name, instead of something like Isaestos or Kalyiomphi, which she also thought were wonderful names. She'd long since decided on: Jacob.

Until then, she hadn't been able to decide on one girls name, but that confusion was now in the past for Rhea had made that decision for her: Thea.

Looking down at the twins, those names echoed through her mind and they felt right. Thea and Jacob, the first ever half-blood children of Hera, Queen of the Heavens.

_My little prince and princess_, she thought lovingly, kissing them both.

Zeus would not be happy. He would be beyond angry and try to persuade her to do something about them – an idea that horrified her completely.

The sad truth was, Zeus would not let either Thea nor Jacob stay upon Olympus. He would forbid, or at least, forbid one of them.

"I'm sorry," Hera whispered sadly as Jacob chose to yawn. "I truly am."

Zeus would not let her children stay. He would want them gone – gone for good.

She knew she would fight for as long as she could, in hope that she would be allowed to keep her children by her side, but it would not work. Zeus was very stubborn and he would stand his ground for a millennia if he had to.

Eventually, she would have to say goodbye.

The twins would not be allowed to live upon Olympus.

Eventually, she would have to send them to the mortal world.

The twins would not be aloud to know about who they were, or who she was, until the day a satyr brought them to Camp Half Blood.

One thing she knew for certain was that Thea and Jacob would not be aloud to stay together. Their scent would be much too strong, and nasty creatures would seek them out and try to kill them before they even hit puberty.

Her babies would be separated, but she would make sure that when they arrived at Camp Half Blood, they arrived together, on the same day. She owed them that. In no way would she let either of them step into their demigod life alone.

Not a single part of her wanted to separate them, but did she have another choice?

It was then that she once more began to cry.

**AUTHORS; Yep, as you can tell, this was mega rushed and not proof read once. Sorry, guys, but it's been so long I needed to post up, because the next chapter is where it gets interesting! Hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless. Review? (: **


	4. Camp Half Blood

Chapter Four; Camp Half-Blood.

Guilt was a bitch. Thea knew that as she picked her body from the dusty road and stumbled toward the hillside; guilt was a nasty, vicious, PMS bitch. Shaking, she forced her feet to move, feeling a heavy burden landing on her shoulders. It felt as if she was Atlas, condemned to carry the heavens upon himself; Guilt was as heavy as the sky, and Guilt was a real bitch.

Had she ever felt so awful? No, she hadn't. It wasn't possible. She couldn't have, because there was no way she could forget that feeling. That awful, selfish, terrible feeling that it was all her fault... Because it was.

Though her feet were moving as quickly as they could, the hill didn't seem to become any smaller. The large tree at the top where she had been instructed to go to didn't seem to come any closer... Maybe it was the weight of her backpack pulling her down? _Or maybe it was the guilt... _

Gonzo wasn't dead. Somewhere deep within her, she knew that was the truth – but then, where was he? He'd vanished, simply vanished, at the same instant the second of those... Things, had disintegrated into a puff of murky green smoke.

What the hell hade they been? Thea didn't know. She was afraid to think, but climbing higher up that hill and hardly moving let her mind wander over the beasts.

There'd been two of them; eight feet tall, with furry chests, claws for fingernails, and paws for feet, snout-like noses and sharp canine teeth. God, Gonzo had been brave, tackling them like that. He'd told Thea to stay as far away as possible and head straight for that tree, while he did something odd. At first, he simply smacked them with his crutches... The second bear-man had sliced them up good-and-proper, so he'd been left to battle without his faithful tools. Gonzo had taken some kind of pipe out and starting playing a jumpy, out-of-tune song, which did something strange to the bear-men. They screeched and wailed and ran in circles, attacking each other; the odd beasts were their own death. In the moment they disintegrated, Gonzo literally vanished from sight.

No warning. No mist. No last-minute words of advice; he was simply gone.

And now, there she was, stumbling up that steep hill all by herself, lugging her backpack and panting through the pain of the stitch in her side. Sweat, she could feel, was forming on her forehead; her palms were sticky with mud as she slipped on the grass and nearly face-planted into the earth.

Oh, only another few metres to go. You can do it, she urged herself. Get to that tree!

Gonzo's words echoed in her mind; _"Trust me, Thea, just get to the tree. Don't look back – don't stop for nothin', honestly, just go and then you'll be safe! Go!"_

Typically, she'd disobeyed. She'd stood frozen in horror and watched him fight the wild animals. She hadn't thought to help as she didn't even know how. What could she do? Distract them? But that wouldn't make a difference. So she'd watched in horror until all three of them were gone, and then decided to follow orders.

She knew getting to the tree _would_ help her. It was a big, grand pine and it was only inches away... Centimetres... Milimetres...

Her fingers pressed against the rough bark, and she felt an instant rush of relief. She'd done it – she'd made it! It was a simple, small joy to have accomplished the task, which was instantly extinguished by another wave of guilt.

There wasn't a part in her mind that knew where Gonzo was. Confusion wasn't the right word, because she was utterly baffled. Nothing over the past few hours had made sense... First, she'd come home to find the crippled boy who nobody spoke to at school sitting in her living room, holding out a note from her dads saying to trust him, and that they were sorry. Next, they hopped in a cab and drove to this road, where they ditched the cab and climbed out. Immediately, the bear-beasties stormed out of nowhere and attacked them. Gonzo fought; Gonzo was gone, and Thea was left alone without a single clue as what to do now.

Her eyes looked around, taking in everything. The road; the fields ahead; the stretch of forest behind her; the oddly reassuring pine. And, though it wasn't a thing to see, she could almost see guilt. Was it just her imagination, or did the grass look droopy? Did the sky look to grey for a late summer evening?

Thea's heart was thudding in her chest when one sensation caught her attention: scent. She could smell burning; burning food, like a barbeque, but burning wood, like a bonfire. Who on earth would be camping out here, in the middle of nowhere?

Turning quickly around, she saw the smoke climbing over the tops of the trees in a thin, harmless ladder that reminded her of the film Mary Poppins. It was thin and only light grey – a small fire, of simply burning wood. For cooking, maybe.

Then, she twigged. There were people behind those trees – people Gonzo had spoke of only briefly.

"_I'm taking you somewhere safe, okay? I can't tell you where or why. That's way too dangerous. But, dude, trust me. These people are help. The best help ya ever gonna get. Trust me, right? Ya safe there. They'll protect ya."_

It felt like an age ago, now, but the words still felt like they were only just whispered in her ear.

Taking a breath, Thea moved through the trees and down toward the smoke; out of the corner of her eyes she caught a glimmer of gold, but put it down to imagination.

Seconds? Minutes? Hours? How long had she walked for? It was as steep downhill as it had been uphill, and she practically tripped the entire way down, awkwardly dodging in and out of the trees. Oh, this was _so_ not how she had wanted to spend her Friday night; getting dirty in a forest in the middle of nowhere with no idea where she was going, or even who to.

Connor, she thought distantly. She'd had plans with Connor, and she'd completely forgotten about them. He was probably waiting for her outside the cinema, right that moment, wondering what was keeping her this time...

It was then that she caught sight of something that completely a baffled her – a summer camp.

Well, that was certainly what it looked like. Trees in front of her abruptly stopped and opened onto a scene that she could see clearly from the higher ground she stood, and she couldn't help but think; what the hell?

A volleyball court was not far in front, and by that, some kind of arts-and-crafts centre. There was an... Was that a coliseum? No, not a coliseum, an amphitheatre to her right, and some kind of – holy crap, - some kind of climbing wall that was spewing something dangerous and red.

There was a weird, big blue house. A block of cabins arranged in a U shape; a mess hall. All of this, she could see, but everything else was too distant to make out. Where was she? What the hell? Why did this place suddenly smell so much like strawberries?

And why weren't there any people around?

Just as she thought that, her eyes clapped on a figure moving hurriedly beside the volleyball court. Now or never, she thought.

"Excuse me? Excuse me? – Hello?"

The figure, a boy, turned toward her and frowned in confusion; at the same moment, a flood of emotions poured through her, and she raced toward him, shouting so many things she confused herself.

"Oh, my god, you have to help! Gonzo said – he had the note – my dads – they just came out of nowhere, nowhere! I just watched – all muddy - where's he gone? Do you know? He just- vanished, vanished!"

She didn't realize how loud she was screaming.

"Whoa, whoa, what the heck?" the boy babbled, reaching his arms out and steadying her when she nearly rammed straight into him. "Who are _you_?"

"Th-Thea Harman. But Gonzo, Gonzo, oh my god, you have to help- We have to find him, we-"

"Gonzo? Hold up. _Gonzo who_?"

Thea felt a lump form in her throat. "Gonzo Grey."

What crossed that boys face in that moment was pure feeling; empathy, sympathy. Understanding. "Don't worry, Thea," he told her calmly. "You're safe here."

The food smelt delicious… So delicious, it actually had Jacob's mouth watering as he shuffled along with the Hermes cabin, peering around the side of them to catch a better glimpse at the buffet table. There was all sorts there – barbeque meat, fresh vegetables, char-grilled vegetables… It all looked so fresh, succulent and the scent of burning wood mingling with the roasting skin on the spit roast was enough to spark a hunger within him that he hadn't noticed before.

"Looks good."

"Too right!" Kyle nodded eagerly from just in front, his shaggy blonde hair bouncing. "Food just doesn't get better than this."

"What are they doing?" he nodded in the direction of a line of other people – other half-bloods – throwing food into the flames, which practically roared and flickered with electric blue anticipation.

Kyle looked at him for a moment as if he was totally cuckoo. "They're sharing it with the gods, obviously. Dude, don't you know that?"

Immediately, Jacob felt defensive. "I only just got here," he pointed out when they reached the buffet table and started loading their plates.

_ "Oh, my god, you have to help! Gonzo said – he had the note – my dads-"_

Heads turned, and a strange silence fell over the mess hall. People mouthed; what? The frightened scream was so loud it caught everybody's attention, and Jacob caught every word of what was said.

_ "Oh, my god, you have to help! Gonzo said – he had the note – my dads – they just came out of nowhere, nowhere! I just watched – all muddy, - where's he gone? Do you know? He just- vanished, vanished!"_

As if following instinct, Kyle dropped his tray of grapes to the floor and ran toward the voice that sounded terribly afraid, and in danger – the Hermes cabin followed and so did Jacob. They were running; running, running out of the mess hall, past the canoe lake, past the cabins, by the big house, through the arts and crafts centre until they were just outside the volleyball pitch – where they stopped. For there stood a boy and a girl.

"Don't worry, Thea," the boy, who Jacob recognised but didn't know, said. "You're safe here."

"Thea" took a deep breath, biting down on her lip, glancing at the crowd that was now emerging out of the arts-and-crafts centre. Standing by Kyle's side, trying to get a better look, Jacob almost frowned before gasping in shock.

His gasp was cut off by the loud sound of a shriek, as Thea's eyes met his, and horror struck both of them.

Those eyes!

They were a deep, endless shade of brown that could easily be loving – but they were narrowed and harsh, marred with confusion. Jacob knew those eyes – he knew them like the back of his hand. For a tiny moment, all he saw was those eyes, framed with dark lashes, before he literally took a step back and saw her properly.

_She_ was _him_, so similar… But so different, too?

Her hair was rich, dark chocolate brown, just like his; hers hung down her back in thick, large curls, whereas his was straightened and in a "Zac-Efron" style. She had that familiar, almost-pale colour to her skin; except that hers was flushed pink at the cheeks. The nose was the same, sharp and angular, and the cheekbones were practically a mirror image, too. Except that, unlike him, she wasn't tall. She was just average.

How was that even possible?

Strangely enough, nobody else seemed to notice their obvious and ridiculous resemblance. The boy standing there tucked his arm over her shoulders in a comforting way and started leading her forwards, away from the gathering crowd. A loud, mob-like noise had erupted within seconds, and who knew how many people had ran up to see what all the commotion was about? Kyle was practically bristling, dying to help the girl somehow, but the other boy had covered that. Jacob couldn't hear the shouting voices properly; he didn't feel anything through his shock and confusion.

Her expression mirrored his.

"Matthew?" called Chiron as he galloped toward them, his hair messy and wind-swept around his face. "Matthew – what- what is going on here? Who is-"

"Thea Harman," Matt cut off abruptly. Yes, that was his name – Matt Finley. He'd spoken to him once, not long after he'd arrived at camp, over nothing interesting. "I haven't had a chance to talk, sir. Can I just get her to the Big House? Sir?"

For a moment, Chiron looked as curious as Jacob felt and then he finally said, "Everybody back to the mess hall! Nothing to see here! Yes, Christopher Casey, that means you, too! Nothing to see here, keep it moving!"

_Nothing to see?_ Jacob thought. _Yes there is. She's me! She's me! I need to know who she is!_

_ No I don't,_ he corrected himself in a firm mental voice. _She looks like you. So what? Big whoop. Loads of girls at camp must have brown hair and brown eyes…_

Although Matt tried to lead her forwards, this Thea girl didn't seem to want to go anywhere. It was as if she couldn't tear her eyes away from Jacob's face: their gazes were glued together... Until she turned around, to see Chiron.

To be fair, anybody would scream like that if they saw Chiron without knowing what a centaur was.

It was getting late: Jacob had never felt more alive. Kyle and his half-sister Sasha, (who was short and elf-like, with darting eyes that made him slightly uncomfortable,), were answering every question he asked, and more, filling him in on everything he needed to know about Camp Half Blood. He'd only been there for four or five hours! The three of them sat on a little stretch of green outside the U-Shaped cabins, Sasha sprawled out, Kyle sitting lazily and Jacob kneeling keenly. He felt like an excited puppy – a nervous once.

"So just try and avoid the Naiads," Sasha advised. "They're flirty, but dangerous."

"And back to your original question," Kyle said with a sharp look in Sasha's direction, "You get a bead every time ya survive a year here."

"Right," Jacob nodded, though his voice was overpowered by a loud, echoing sound of a conch horn. Looking to the sky, he noticed just how dark it was… It was almost enough to make him yawn.

And he would have, too, had he not noticed that Kyle and Sasha were both staring at the same thing. Following their gaze, he saw that the door of the Big House was now open, and a group of figures were standing on the porch, like black shadows in the dim moonlight.

"The new girl?" Sasha asked, climbing to her feet. "What, do we go over?"

Kyle hardly even considered that. "Yeah, think so. She's with us for at least tonight anyway, so, y'know."

"Can I come?"Jacob asked in a voice that was strangely small.

"Uh, sure, kiddo."

In silence, the three of them set off in a triangle-formation toward the Big House. Growing closer, they could hear the quiet murmur of voices.

"-Much less confusing after a day or two, really." Chiron.

"If you care enough." Mr. D.

"You'll be fine, Thee," Matt added to the mix. "I'll help you out and show you around camp."

"If others don't wish to do so," Chiron muttered quietly; a light flickered on on the porch, and his eyes fell onto Kyle in an expressionless way. "Kyle Hubbs, here, is the head of the Hermes cabin, and therefore is the person who, usually, would introduce you to camp."

It was silly, immature and wrong, but Jacob didn't dare to look at the girl – but he was much more curious than he was frightened.

_ And you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat._

She was standing a little space away from the three others, looking a little intimidated but defiantly interested. Peering around, her eyes latched onto Kyle, and for a second she seemed to sway toward him before she moved quickly to Matt's side, who frowned.

"Can't Matt show me?" she asked quietly. "I know Matt."

"It's my job," Kyle told her flatly, stepping forward. "Hermes is the patron of travellers, so we welcome travellers or new comers, and we-"

"But I don't _know_ you." Her voice had a sharp edge. "I know Matt."

"Hardly," Mr. D scoffed. "You only got here two hours ago."

"You _can_ be shown around by Matthew, given the circumstances…" Chiron trailed off, his eyes slightly round as if troubled. He was sitting in his wheel-chair.

A part of Jacobs' mind thought; what circumstances?

"Circumstances?" Sasha asked, a little boldly.

"Ah, yes." Chiron fidgeted. "Thea, here, has been claimed."

Jacob stared, his mouth hanging open. "_What_?"

Surprisingly, Thea slept well. She woke feeling normal, as if not a thing had changed. For those first few seconds before she opened her eyes, all she could think about was how she was way too comfy to get up for school, and wondering what was for breakfast.

Of course, when she finally did open her eyes, she was in an entirely different room. She wasn't at home; she was at Camp Half Blood.

Everything came flooding back so quickly that she felt dizzy.

Oh, how had it all happened so quickly? In the space of only a few short hours, her life had taken a turn down a new road she had never planned on travelling. It was insane. Completely insane.

But so true, nonetheless.

So... She was a demigod. There'd been no time to consider that last night, no time to really think it through. Climbing out of bed and moving toward her backpack, she pulled clothes out and started getting changed without even thinking about what she was doing.

Demigod. Demigod. Demigod.

Half human, half god. The daughter of a god. _The daughter of a god!_

You would have thought that if you were a demigod, you'd know. But Thea had never had any suspicions she wasn't completely mortal. She was just Thea, wasn't she? Just Thea Harman, the girl with two dads and no mom...

Except that now she had a mom.

_Hera._

The name rang around her head as she searched her bag for a comb and started pulling it through her hair in front of a mirror that hung on the wall in a large circular shape, not actually paying any attention to herself.

Hera was the wife of the big guy, wasn't she? The one with the lightening bolt? She was the one who always got jealous because he cheated on her. This much she knew. But that was all she knew.

So, what, her mom was some kind of jealous-freak-immortal.

How reassuring that thought was!

The door slammed shut behind her and it was only then she realized she'd gotten dressed, brushed her teeth and combed her hair in only a matter of minutes. God, - er, Gods, - she hadn't even put any makeup on. There just wasn't enough inside her to care, because she was so full-up with other feelings.

It was morning. Probably about eight o'clock. There was a clear, light blue sky and a soft breeze that was somehow reassuring. So it looked like a nice day, full of possibilities... If only she knew what to do.

Where was she supposed to go?

Standing on the step in front of the door of her cabin, Thea didn't know where she was supposed to go. She'd heard someone mention something about a mess hall, but where was that? Left? Right? She didn't know. She was lost already, and she hadn't gone anywhere.

"Lost already?" a voice called from nearby, like a mind reader.

Her gaze turned to the cabin on her right – a much bigger, grander cabin that put all of the others to shame. Somehow it looked tough and inviting and expensive all at once. Eyes falling on a familiar figure sitting on the step, her heart gave a little bit of a grateful leap. Thank goodness, it was the one person she knew.

"Matt." She breathed a sigh. "What are you doing there?"

"It's my cabin, obviously." He poked the door with his elbow, and then nodded in her direction. "I would have knocked, but I didn't know if you were awake or not, you know?"

"You're waiting for me?" She frowned, puzzled.

"Well you didn't think I'd leave you to wander around like a headless chicken all by yourself, did you?"

"I'm not a headless chicken."

"Then why haven't you moved since you came out the door?"

Ah. Good point. She _hadn't_ moved since she came out of the door, with the exception of turning to face him. Purposefully she stepped down to the floor, raising an eyebrow at him in a "You were saying?" expression.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit."

With another one of his nods he hopped off of the step and started walking down the cobbled path that ran along all of the cabins. "Then what're you waiting for?" he asked when he passed her. "Breakfast's this way."

"Coming," she grumbled, jogging after him. "Coming."

Matt Finley was the person who she'd spotted when she'd first stumbled onto camp, looking like a state, covered in muck and leaves, lugging a backpack and staring around wildly. Only when she'd been showed to her cabin, which had at least four mirrors, did she realise how bad she looked. There was a tare in her jeans, which was never a good thing, and the sole of her shoe had started peeling off. All of that just for walking down a hill!

Thankfully, Matt hadn't mentioned that when he stopped her from barging into him and asked who she was. He'd recognised the fact she clearly had no idea where she was... And he'd realized that she was clearly a half-blood, otherwise she wouldn't have passed through the magic border of camp to start with.

Even when people had ran to see what all the commotion was about and gawked at her like she was a complete idiot, he hadn't changed his tone. Even when she screamed, seeing a half-man half-horse for the first time, he didn't turn around and leave her to deal with it on her own. No, he took her to the Big House and sat her down, staying with her through the two-hour conversation between the two of them, Chiron and Mr. D. Matt had tried to calm her down from the moment he met her, and that had earned her respect for him.

Immediately she liked Matt. If he was nice enough to try and look after her in those first few crucial minutes, he was obviously a nice guy in general. Already she wanted to know him better, to be able to formally introduce him to people as "my friend, Matt," despite the fact he was almost a stranger.

Well, he was less of a stranger than anybody else.

"What you thinking about?" he asked with suspicious eyes as they walked.

"Gonzo," she replied automatically.

Matt sighed, brushing the hair out of his face. "Don't worry about Gonzo, okay? Like Chiron said last night, he's been in touch and he's safe – he'll be back before you know it. See, Thee? No worries, right?"

"No worries," she said gratefully.

He smiled and kept walking, the sunlight spilling onto him so that she could really see. It'd been so dark last night, she hadn't truly been able to look at him. Now, she had that chance.

Matt was tall. He had a strong jaw and flat, hard muscles that said he spent time working out, but not so much that he was a beefy football player. He probably did it recreationally, or something. Last night, he'd just had dark hair and dark eyes, but now that she could see properly, she realized she'd been wrong.

He didn't just have dark hair. His hair was _black_, like the wings of a raven, and it fell across his face stylishly. Electric blue eyes, not black. How had she mistaken that? Those eyes were such a bold colour, it seemed bizarre to have thought they could be anything else. It seemed bizarre to think they didn't shine in the dark, or at least reflect moonlight. Small, faded freckles were dotted occasionally across his nose, but she knew she could only see them because of the way the sun was shining. Most days, she concluded, they would practically be invisible. Glancing at his profile in a way she hoped wasn't obvious, she recognised a straight nose and high cheekbones that, ironically, she would associate with a statue of a Greek god or hero.

"What?" he asked.

"There's a fly in your hair."

"Really? Crap!" Matt reached up and frantically started brushing at his hair, messing up the style so it was all over the place. "Is it gone?"

"Um, yeah..."

"Good. Man, I hate bugs!" As he made no move to straighten out his hair, Thea chose to not say anything – he sorta suited the "bed-head" look."

Looking ahead, she saw that they were coming very close to the mess hall. "Is this the place?"

"Yep. You eat here all the time – oh, and you can't have food in your cabin and stuff."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. It's just a rule."

She grumbled, "It's a stupid rule," and he agreed whole-heartedly.

By the looks of things, they were a little late for breakfast. The mess hall was absolutely packed – there were fourteen very large tables in the centre of the room, (two of them empty,), and smaller tables cramped around them. You could see the slightly different change in paint colour where the room had obviously been extended and then re-decorated with the wrong shade of white, but she wasn't looking at the walls. She wasn't looking at the food, either; although it was a shock she wasn't, because the buffet table full of bacon sandwiches, toast and cereal was incredibly inviting.

No, Thea was looking at the people crowding the tables. Other demigods; other half-bloods. Other people who had gone through exactly what she was going through now. She found one thing strange – they were all the same.

They were all individuals, of course. And the people at one table looked nothing like people on another, but... At one table, it was full of people with blonde hair and grey eyes; a few people were reading a book, or writing on a piece of paper, or typing on a laptop. Another table was full of red-heads with harsh glares and similar small, thin body structures.

Another table had three people with raven-black hair and electric-blue eyes, waving in their direction. Waving at Matt.

The thought of Matt having half-blood brothers or sisters hadn't entered her mind. The fact that he was a demigod, too, hadn't occurred to her, and she realized that he had a godly parent, and she hadn't even asked who.

"Matt, who is-"

"Jeeze, I'm starving," he interrupted, striding up to the tables and grabbing a bowl, filling it with Coco Pops and milk. "Think I'll get some toast, too."

"Oh, _wow_," she said a little too enthusiastically, pointing like a little child. "Chocolate pop-tarts! I love those!"

"Get one then," a voice said from behind her.

Turning, she was about to say that yes, she _would_ get one, until she stopped short and words seemed to fail her.

Because it was him.

The boy.

The one who looked... Exactly like her.

The one who had stared and stared and stared.

The one who she'd tried not to think about since last night.

The one who was giving her the same hard look she called her own.

"Who _are_ you?" she whispered.

"I was going to ask you the same question," he told her flatly.

She recognised something, then. His eyes were hard, his lips were mashed into a hard line, and his arms were crossed over his chest. But she _recognised_ that so easily she could describe it without hesitation.

He was afraid; confused and afraid, so he dumped himself on the defensive edge, acting tough and unaffected, despite dying to know the truth inside.

Dropping one of her hands to her hips, she found herself mirroring his harsh glare, and his defensive ways.

Matt's voice sounded terribly distant but loud in her ear as he said, "Damn, Thea! You never said you had a brother!"

_A brother... A brother... A brother..._

"Damn, Thea! You never said you had a brother!"

"Brother?" Jacob frowned at the tall Matt Finley guy, who was hovering behind Thea like some kind of protective guard dog. "I'm not her _brother_."

"Really? Oh, man, sorry. You just- well, you look just like her, man."

Acting like he hadn't noticed that himself, Jacob said, "I don't look like her at all."

"Yes you do," Thea said sharply.

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"_I so do not!_"

"_You so do too!_"

"Well, what do you know?" Matt smile cheerfully at them. "You even sound like brother and sister."

"Urgh!" Thea growled, turning around and walking to the other end of the buffet table where she threw three pop tarts onto a plate and stormed away.

"Thanks, man," Jacob said sarcastically.

Matt, who'd turned to watch her walk away, called "Sorry, kid!" over his shoulder and jogged after her, spilling a splash of milk onto the floor.

Simply staring after them, Jacob didn't move for a minute.

"What a fail," he said to himself, grabbing a banana and moving back to the Hermes table with his shoulders hunched. "Great idea. _"Go and talk to her, that might help!"_... Yeah, great idea, Jake."

"Talking to yourself?" Kyle called, patting the seat next to him and flicking his shaggy blonde hair out of his face. "First sign of madness, yaknow."

Barking a humourless laugh, Jacob replied, "I know," and tore the skin from the banana.


	5. Theia's son

Chapter Five: Theia's Son.

"You sure you don't wanna join in?" Matt called over the clash of blades.

Thea sucked in another breath of air. "Yep!" Her voice was oddly high pitched. "I'm sure!"

In response he simply grinned; the grin vanished, dissolving into solid concentration as he swung his weapon at his opponent once more. Sweat was starting to shine on his forehead and the hair sticking out from under his helmet looked a little damp – how could he keep holding the sword so steadily when his hands were sweating, too?

It wasn't exactly a "sword", of course. Whenever Thea thought of the word "sword" she pictured something long and straight, with a handle encrusted with jewels. That image was imprinted on her mind from watching the Disney film, _"The sword in the stone."_, one time too many. What Matt was practicing with was long, thick and curved neatly, similar to a scythe, but less… Well, scythe-like. It simply looked like a sword that had been made wrong, not a terrifying weapon that the Grim Reaper used.

Not to say that it wasn't terrifying, nonetheless.

Watching Matt and a son of Ares named Colt battle it out really did put her on edge. At times Matt seemed to have the upper hand; that was until Colt swooped in with some kind of flashy maneuver and Matt was left struggling again. Ares was the god of war, so it did make sense that Colt would simply be kick-ass at combat, but she was admittedly worried that Matt would loose his cool and accidentally end up getting his arm chopped off.

"Take - that!" Colt shouted gleefully between clashes. "And – that! And – that!"

"Go to Hades!" ("Hey!" shouted a dark figure lurking in the shadows.)

Thea knew that Ares was the god of war because she had once discovered an interesting-looking book in her local library all about the gods and their tales. Admittedly, she'd become bored and returned it within a week, but reading at least the first dozen pages had left her memory with some fairly useful information. Like how Ares was the god of war: Dionysus was the god of wine: Poseidon created horses out of sea foam: Demeter, Persephone and Hades are the main people involved in why we have our seasons.

Plus she'd been reading that book again – the one that had informed her about Hera.

"Eat my hellhound!"

"You fight like a goddess!"

"You're an insult to Ares!"

"Your as stupid as a minotaur!"

"Your as ugly as a hydra!"

This flurry of insults flew between Matt and Colt so quickly that Thea found herself looking from one to the other as if they were a tennis rally. The duo battled competitively, fighting for the upper hand: things were just starting to look equal when Colt faked a blow to the dead, ducked, swerved and smacked Matt with the hilt of his dagger in the back of his knees. Crying out in pain he fell down, clutching his leg and rolling on to his side with Colt simply wiped the sweat from his sneering face.

"I win again, then, Finley!" he gloated with a nasty smile. "I'll always win, got it? Always. Nobody can beat me!"

"Watch me," growled Matt in response, shifting so that he was on his knees. Pausing, he looked up and said, "Same time tomorrow?"

"You better not be late, punk." Winking once, Colt, the son of Ares, turned and stomped away, calling out for the next person who would dare to challenge him.

"Ow."

"Ouch, that looked painful. You alright?" Thea asked, moving away from the fence and bending over so that they were at eye-level. There was a nasty gash on his forehead where blood had trickled down, past his eyes and close to his chin, and she was sure that wasn't the only injury he had sustained. Matt gave her a cautious look.

"That was about thirty seconds too late, there." Effortlessly, as if he hadn't been hurt at all, he lifted himself to his feet while pulling off his helmet. He had complete helmet-hair. "Maybe you should work on your timing."

"My timing is fine, thank you very much… I just didn't want to come over incase Colt tried to stab me or something, and, anyway, you're fine."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. It's all good."

"Except for the fact that you're covered in dirt-"

"-And sweat-"

"-Covered in dirt and sweat-"

"And I'm bleeding-"

"Covered in dirt and sweat and you're bleeding-"

"So I need a shower."

Clapping sarcastically, Thea smirked. "Well done, Einstein."

"I hate to burst your bubble, kiddo, but around here we don't say Einstein. We say _Athena._ You know," he pointed towards the sky, "goddess of wisdom and all? That makes her pretty damn smart."

"Fine. Well done, Athena. And don't call me kiddo."

"Whatever you say, kiddo."

As Thea grumbled to herself that she wasn't a 'kiddo', Matt took off his breastplate and dumped that, along with helmet and sword, by the side of the range. Just as he was saying that he'd catch up with her after he had a shower he paused for a nanosecond and then grinned wickedly.

"D'you wanna meet a friend of mine first?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Awesome! This way."

Although she was slightly surprised by his sudden change of plans, she was secretly relieved, too, because Thea had only met one person at camp, and she knew she couldn't hang around with Matt all day, every day. They'd both just start getting very bored, and that could possibly ruin their friendship… Despite their friendship having only just begun, Thea really didn't want to ruin it already, and so she knew that she had to be brave and make other friends, too.

This was pretty much a golden opportunity.

So, obligingly, she followed Matt out of the range and down toward the Long Island Sound, all the while keeping quiet. Every now and again Matt would comment on something: the weather, how tired he was, random people they passed. ("It's really hot today, isn't it?" "Gods, I'm beat." "That's a son of Eris – I'd stay away from him.") Thea would reply with something witty and highly intelligent. ("Yes, It is." "Okay." "Okay.") – and that was pretty much their conversation the entire way down.

Strangely enough, it wasn't that awkward.

The Long Island Sound was full of random groups of people lounging around, relaxing and taking time to chill out from their grueling daily routine – with the exception of the cabins who chose to relax all of the time. Matt, who was apparently well-known around camp, waved at a couple of people and said good morning, although midday was drawing ever closer. He introduced Thea to nobody but muttered things to her like, "Son of Asteria" and, "Erebos twins."

One or two friendly people even waved at her, too, including a son of Aphrodite that had her blushing immediately.

As they walked along the sound, Thea was just wondering who would win in a fight between Zeus and Ares when Matt tapped her on the shoulder and pointed her to a figure lying on some grass, only a few meters off of the Sound.

"That's your friend?" she asked.

"Yup, but do me a favor, okay? Don't stare. He gets really annoyed when people do that."

"Stare at what?"

No reply came as Matt turned and walked away, raking a hand through his hair and looking across toward the shower block. Slightly annoyed, Thea jogged after him, (why was it she always seemed to be following this guy?) while trying to catch a better look at his friend. Unfortunately for her he was lying on his front with his face tucked into his arm, so all she could see was the back of his blonde head and his Levi's.

Matt stopped a few feet away and looked at Thea expectantly. "What?" she whispered. "Is he asleep?"

"I'm wide awake," the blonde guy grumbled.

"Oh – right – sorry."

"Dude, get up, Matt ordered, nudging with him with his foot. "You're dog's terrorizing some Iris chick."

"Fine, fine." He moved so that he was on his knees and shouted out, "Zeus! Stop that, get back here!"

Up ahead, the sky rumbled with thunder. For a moment Thea didn't know whether she was more confused or afraid. Confused because this randomer was shouting at Zeus? What the heck? And afraid because of Zeus' reaction: not a happy one.

Although she would never, ever admit it, she was also afraid of the boy… afraid of him turning around. Was there something wrong with him? Was he so hideously ugly she wouldn't be able to look away? Did he have four noses? There had to be a reason why she'd been told "not to stare".

Something on the Sound caught her eye: something large and golden, racing toward them, its tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth.

The Labrador bounded, barking loudly, at its master's feet. The boy, who had his back to Thea and Matt, started patting the dog affectionately, saying, "Good boy, Zoo. Good boy."

Oh – so Zeus was the dog. That made more sense.

Clearing his throat loudly, Matt rolled his eyes. "So, anyway… This is Thea. She got here yesterday."

"Oh, I know," he said, brushing his hands on his Levi's and turning around, holding one out. "I heard."

Beside her, Matt stiffened slightly.

At first she thought he'd told her not to stare because of how good looking he was – a thought burst into Thea's mind that he was probably a son of Aphrodite. Tall, blonde and handsome with a strong, athletic body made of flat muscles and smooth skin. His nose was straight and his cheekbones high: one of his eyebrows raised as her gaze travelled down from his golden-blonde hair to his eyes.

And then she knew why she wasn't supposed to stare.

Those eyes… They could have been dazzling, like Matt's. yes, Matt's bright blue eyes were most defiantly his best feature – and just like Matt, he had blue eyes, too. A middle shade of blue that would have been ever so wonderful…

Contrasting against the intensity of the blue were his pupils: pupils that were spherical rings of undeniable, pure white. And they were staring right at her.

Immedaitly looking down, Thea shook his hand with a little too much effort as Matt said: "Thea, this is Riley Hart. Riley – Thea Harman."

"Nice to meet you," Thea said to the ground.

"Yeah. Ditto." Riley dropped her hand and reached out to stroke Zeus and sitting back down – the others copied.

He can't be a son of Aphrodite, she decided.

"So," Riley said bluntly. "You're the daughter of Hera."

"How did-"

"Good news travels fast."

Zeus, who was still panting, yelped once and took a step toward Matt, shoving his muzzle into his hand. Gingerly Thea petted him, too, and decided that he was a fairly friendly dog. Thea had never had a dog.

"I didn't think we were aloud dogs at camp," she thought aloud.

"We're not," Riley said, looking up at her with an arrogant, amused expression. "But I'm an exception." It was then that Riley did something very odd: he started fanning the air with outstretched arms. "Zeus? Zeus? C'mere, boy."

As the Labrador turned back to join his master Thea caught a glimpse of a luminous green collar and gasped, looking back up at Riley.

"What's up?" Matt asked.

It was then that Riley did the _second_ very odd thing – he looked up into her eyes and frowned. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-I'm fine. There was a fly on my foot." The voice inside her head screamed, _lame!_ "So, er, Riley. Who's your… Parent?"

Beside her, Matt smiled secretly.

"Funny you should ask that," he replied in an off-hand way. "Because you're named after her. Theia – the titan goddess of shining light of the clear blue sky and sight." His smile was cold.

Huh?

"Then why-"

"Well it looks like we should get going!" Matt interrupted cheerfully. "I need a shower and it's nearly lunch."

The smile on Riley's face faltered: he looked at Thea for a moment with those frightening eyes. "Yeah. Right. You should go, Matt. You, too."

"Yeah." Thea jumped to her feet, fighting the urge to frown.

Clapping his friend a high-five, Matt turned to face her and grinned. "I'm gettin' a shower. What d'_you_ wanna do?"

"Erm – I'll just go back to my cabin until lunch, if that's okay-"

"'Course it is. C'mon, then. Seeya later, dude."

"Later, man."

"Bye, Riley."

"Later, Thea. If I see you around later I'll, uh, check you're getting on or something."

Huh? "Thanks!" she called as Matt steered her away.

Neither of them spoke until Rile was well out of ear sht, which was when Matt came to a stop at the empty volleyball court.

"Riley seems – nice…" she commented.

Barking a short laugh, he said, "He's a cool guy. Shame he was in a bad mood when we caught him. He doesn't lie, you know – I don't think he _can_ lie."

That sentence would have sounded perfectly ordinary, had it not been for his emphasizing. "Why not?"

"I dunno. I think it offends him. Something to do with lying stopping you from, ah, _seeing_ the truth."

"Oh… Right."

His blue eyes – so friendly compared to Riley's – looked at her in a sad way before he flicked his dark hair. When he spoke, his voice was flat.

"He might tell the truth, but he's a private guy. He won't go answering questions to just anyone, Yaknow? So what I tell you now you have to sweat you won't repeat to a soul. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Ya swear it?"

"I sweat it."

"Pinky sweat it?" He offered his finger. She would have laughed, had he not looked so serious.

Thea pinky swore, and the contract was more binding than she would ever know.

"Good. Okay. Now I'm only telling you this because he didn't bite your head off, which means that he likes you, and Riley doesn't like a lot of people. You could get along with Riley, but you have to _know_ about Riley to get along with him. See?"

Opening her mouth to say that, yes, she saw, he cut her off by launching into his tale. There was something odd about his voice.

"Riley camp to camp four years ago. He'd only just turned thirteen so he was still pretty much a kid, even if he was growing up. It was… Well, it was a tough journey for him, getting to camp, and it hadn't gone smoothly right from the word 'go'. Monsters attacked them a lot… Ya know, the usual."

"'Them'?"

"Yeah. Riley, a satyr, an experienced camper and another kid that didn't know he was a half-blood. And no more interrupting, okay?"

"Okay."

"Hey! I said no more interrupting! Joking. Anyway, like I was saying, it didn't go smoothly. Just when they arrived at Half Blood Hill they were attacked by a chimera – you know what a chimera is, don't you? – and Riley tried to help the others fight it off, but… It went wrong. Very wrong."

His voice sounded grave: Thea couldn't stop the hairs on the back of her neck from prickling.

"Riley was hurt. Real hurt. He was unconscious and bleeding a lot, too. No one knew how hurt he was. The other demigods and the satyr had to carry him through the boundary and into camp – his body was so broken all that did was cause s'more damage… he was in the infirmary here at camp for two weeks, completely out of feared the worst. Chiron didn't think he was going to make it, (at least, that's what I've heard,), and then, _finally_," he sounded genuinely relieved. "He came back around for about a minute – but it didn't take a healer to know how much damage the chimera'd caused."

"They knew they could mend broken bones. They knew they could make the pain go away but they couldn't give him his sight back. Riley was blind."

Automatically Thea shut her eyes and took a deep breath. So she had been right. He was blind.

"Obviously, that's not the end. He was in the infirmary for another couple of weeks… the whole time he was there he kept slipping in and out of consciousness, only for a few minutes, and whenever he came 'round he couldn't remember a thing. And then he woke up for good and he sat up and blinked a lot, but he didn't say anything: and then…

"Something appeared above his head, the image of an eye – the symbol of Theia. What happened was the eye blinked and then floated down real slow, like, sinking into Riley's head. Chrion was amazed… He claimed nothing like that had ever happened like that. The symbol would usually just disappear or something…

"What did it mean?" her voice was only a whisper.

"Thea," Matt looked down at her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Riley is blind."

All she could do was nod.

"He's blind… But he can see _everything_." Flinging his arms out he stared around at camp as if seeing it for the first time in his life. "_Everything_! You have –"

Echoingly loud, the sound of a conch horn bellowed throughout camp making both of them jump and bringing them back to reality. Blinking several times Thea shook her head, trying to shake the images out of her mind.

"I was meant to get a shower. Crap. I gotta go. You should go grab lunch or something."

Without even so much as a good bye he set off at a sprint, leaving Thea alone, feeling suddenly very cold on a very warm day.

Hera stared unblinkingly at the perfect, gentle cloud she had conjured with rapt attention, desperate to take in every detail of the images that played across it like a television.

Almost an entire day had passed, and she had not once tore her gaze away from it. She couldn't miss a single thing!

But what she was waiting for did not seem to be coming. The first had been incredibly fast and, to her relief, easy.

Dionysus had been half way through explaining to Thea the truth about her parentage when a girl walked into the room, looking every inch a daughter of Aphrodite, and flitted over to that boy – what was his name? Ah, yes. Matthew.

The girl had asked to speak with Matthew privately and batted her eyelashes in his direction, even daring to blow a kiss at him. Thea of course, hadn't liked that – too right, too, considering the circumstances! – and had cast a rather dark look at the girl. Simply giving her that look had made her look more like her mother than ever… That look was all it had taken, and so Hera had claimed her.

But Jacob… Well, he was proving to be more difficult.

You see, some of the more – traditional – gods and goddess chose to have their child show themselves worthy of their parentage before claiming them.

Yes, perhaps it was old-fashioned, but that was simply the way Hera wanted her children to be clamed. She simply refused to do so until they revealed a trait she either claimed as her own, or did something to please her, otherwise, what was the point?

Oh, but she had never been a very patient woman.

At that precise moment Jacob was sitting at the Hermes table for the evening meal, asking his goblet for a drink called "pepsi".

For the first time that day the throne room doors swung open, taking away her much needed privacy.

"I hear you can't claim one of them."

"Zeus, darling," she replied irritably. "I was starting to think you would never return."

"One weekend, wife. I have been gone for one measly weekend."

"And I haven't left Olympus since you allowed me to pay a visit to young Percy Jackson and his friends!"

"_You_ do not need to leave Olympus," he told her bluntly, casting a fist through her cloud of images as she passed so that it broke apart into rain.

"Oh, darling, look what you did." Her voice was like steel. "My shoes are getting wet."

"What a shame! Perhaps I should pay a _visit_ to Aphrodite and have her fashion you some new ones."

"What are you insinuating?" she asked icily.

His smile held no humor. "Nothing, my Queen."

Exasperating a sigh Hera lifted the front of her gown and stepped from her throne, her head high. Zeus allowed her to walk half way to the door before calling her name.

"Yes, dear?" She turned around.

"You can't claim one of them. The boy."

"Why is it you seem to think you know everything, Zeus?"

"I see you aren't denying it." Smugness shone from his eyes. "Is he not good enough?"

"What do you mean 'is he not good enough? Of course he is good enough, he is my son!"

"But you haven't claimed him yet," Zeus said calmly, patting his beard with his fingers. "Are you ashamed of him, Hera?"

"No!"she shouted, suddenly feeling much hotter. "I most certainly am not!"

"Then claim the boy."

"Since when did-"

"I know you, Hera. You are my wife. If you were not ashamed, you would have claimed him by now. Am I right, or am I wrong?" He gave her no chance to reply. "I am right, of course. If you are not ashamed, I challenge you to claim him. Soon."

After arguing inside herself she spat, "Fine! Consider it done by this time tomorrow!" and stormed out of the room.

In her chamber, she opened an Iris message.

"Hyperion, my friend!" Hera beamed brightly. "How are you? How have you been?"

The god in the image of the fountain turned around, frowned, and then smiled so brightly it was almost blinding. "Goodness, Hera! How long has it been? A century? Two?"

"Much too long, indeed, Hyperion, but I am afraid this is not a social call. Business, my friend. I have a favor I wish to ask."

Hyperion winked. "Anything for you, my Lady. How can I help?"

Twenty minutes later, Hera's second Iris message was coming to an end. Although no person was shown in what she could see, for it was much too dark in shadow, the voice was perfectly clear.

"I'll do my best, Hera, but I'm not going to promise anything. He's his father's son, so he doesn't abide by the rules."

Hera felt her chest swell with gratitude. "Thank you, Erebos. You have truly aided me tonight."

"Sure, sure." The Iris message dissolved.

One more to go, she thought to herself, throwing a coin into the fountain she always kept in the corner of her chamber for that reason alone. "Show me Aphrodite."

And Aphrodite did appear.

"You have no idea how long I've been expecting your call."


	6. Twins

Chapter Six: Sunshine and Darkness.

Jacob swallowed the last of his Pepsi and stared down at the remaining food on his plate. Once again he had piled too much on and now it was going to waste. Could he manage another mouthful? It felt like he'd already eaten his own weight in BBQ food…

"S'that going spare?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, help yourself."

"Cheers, man." Kyle took the last chicken leg from off of Jacob's plate. "Can't get enough of these."

Sasha poked her dark head around the many goblet strewn across the table. "Kyle won a chicken-leg-eating competition last year. It was hil_-air_-ious."

"I got a trophy and everything." Puffing his chest out, Kyle flashed a broad smile unbeknown to the meat wedged between his teeth.

"Yeah," snickered Sasha."It was shaped like a chicken."

"He shines it every night!" someone called across the table. "Polishes it and everything!"

"Not _every_ night, you liar – I didn't do it last night, did I?"

"Only because you were writing _lurrrve_ letters to that Aphrodite girl!"

The entire table started giggling. Jacob asked, intrigued. "Is that your girlfriend?"

"No! She's just a- a friend-" He was blushing scarlet. "They're twisting things."

"Oh, Scarlet!" Sasha exclaimed in a high voice while clutching at her chest. "Scarlet, sweet Scarlet! When can I see you again? You took my breath away when I saw you!"

The giggles became very loud snorts and Jacob found himself fighting back a smile when he saw the look on Kyle's face.

"I didn't say that! I never! I just- we just-"

"Your eyes are like sapphires! Your hair is like a field of wheat!"

"Shut _up, _Sasha, I didn't say that!"

"For you I would steal the moon – I swear it, oh beautiful Scarlet!"

The snorting became full-blown roars of laughter as Kyle shot a look of daggers at each of them, jumped up out of his seat and said, "Are you coming, Jacob?"

Uh. "Where're you going?"

"To the Sound. We've got hours before lights-out and this lot are getting on my last nerve."

Further howls of laughter, and Jacob thought it was a better idea to tag along with Kyle than to hang back and look like the bad guy. So he followed him obligingly, not saying a word as he stomped out of the dining pavilion and back toward the Olympian gods cabins.

Weren't they going the wrong way?

"I thought we were going to the Sound?" he frowned as they drew closer.

Over his shoulder Kyle replied, "We are. I just need to make a stop."

"Where to? Oh- right."

His question was answered as they walked into the gardens-area of the U-Shape cabins, where Kyle was already knocking on the door of cabin ten. The door swung open immediately and out stepped two girls: one with thick, curly brunette hair, and one with long, golden-blonde hair. Both were extremely pretty.

"Kyle!" beamed the brunette, her face lighting up completely. "You took your time, didn't you?"

"Sorry, Scarlet, I was-"

"Oh well, never mind. No point beating about the bush. Shall we get going? This is Lyra, by the way. She's coming, too."

Lyra gave an awkward wave as Scarlet flashed an alluring smile at Kyle and started walking back the way they came, with the three of them following in her wake.

If Sasha could see Kyle now, Jacob thought, as he watched the way Kyle's eyes stared lovingly after the daughter of Aphrodite. She'd die of laughter.

"What did ya say your name was?"Kyle asked Lyra without looking at her. "Didn't catch that."

"Lyra," she answered in a funny sort of voice.

"Right, gotcha. So, Scarlet, who exactly are we-"

"Meeting? Oh, just a few friends." She laughed, turning to face them and picking at the beads of her Camp Half Blood necklace. "It's a beautiful evening, isn't it? It's, like, so pretty."

Nobody said anything. She walked ahead of them, commenting on how much she loved summer and telling them she couldn't understand how they could carry on training in the heat. (To which Kyle replied, with a puffed-out chest, "Well, got to keep in shape, haven't we?")

It only took a few minutes to reach the Sound. By then, Scarlet was talking non-stop. "And since then she hasn't let me alone!" she moaned, flicking back her hair. "I mean, I know that people need advice these days and that I am an obvious perfect candidate to give said advice, but, puh-leaze! I told her it was bad news getting with him in the first place. I told her she'd reek of fish, but did she listen? No!"

"Why does she reek of fish?"

"Because he's the son of Pontos, silly. He's always taking her fishing – he thinks it's romantic. Again, I say, puh-leaze! He obviously doesn't have a romantic bone in his badly-dressed body."

"What is romantic, then?..."

"Oh, no, Kyle. I'm, like, not saying.. You'll have to figure that one out on your own if you wanna keep me interested," she winked at him.

His responding laughter was cut short. "Gods, Scar, you said "a few friends", not all of camp!"

Sure enough, making the most of their free time, about twenty-five half-bloods were sitting along the Sound, enjoying the evening heat. A son of Dionysus was telling jokes, for with almost every word he said people burst into laughter. Jacob recognised random people: he thought it looked like a pretty friendly gathering… But then he saw her. Once again. And the feeling subsided.

He swore under his breath, but Lyra heard. "Something wrong?"

"Er-" he wanted to explain but felt he shouldn't. "No, it's alright. I just don't like someone over there."

She followed the direction of his pointing thumb and seemed to understand. "Don't worry. I know the feeling. It's surprising who you get along with, isn't it?"

Only now did he recognise why her voice was strange – she was British, not American.

Kyle and Scarlet started walking slower and slower behind them, out of earshot. "Yeah, s'pose."

"I mean, look at me." She gestured to herself. "You would think that I would get along with the Apollo crowd, but, the truth is, I can't stand them. They are _such _copycats."

"Copycats? Okay, you've lost me."

She laughed quietly. "Apollo is the god of sun. Everybody knows that, but, actually, he isn't. Not really. You see, Hyperion is the father of Helios, and _he_ is the original god of sun. Apollo technically is, too, but considering that Apollo has so many other attributes to his name, Helios is considered _the_ god of sun, and Apollo simply one of the minor-sun gods. Nobody ever remembers this, of course. It's all about the Olympians these days." She sounded fairly disgusted as she tucked her hair behind her ears: it was golden. Like the sun, Jacob thought.

"So I'm guessing you're Helios daughter, right?"

"Ha! No, he's practically my brother. Hyperion is my father: the Titan god of light."

Their steps were pulling them closer to the people lounging on the Sound quickly. "Oh, right. I can see why people think you'd get along with Apollo's lot, then."

"I know, it's all very stereotypical." Her voice was brisk and matter-of-fact. "Everybody assumes that any child of Erebus and I would quarrel like gods knows what when actually-

"Hey, Jacob!" Kyle shouted from behind. "Sit over there, with them!"

To Jacob's great displeasure, Kyle was pointing to exactly where he didn't want to sit – he would have protested, had Lyra not already moved toward them and sat down.

_She_ was amongst their mix. Thea Harman, along with Matt Finley, a Hephaestus boy he vaguely recognised and another boy who was most likely a son of Apollo, judging by his hair.

Thea sat with her legs crossed, talking to Matt without much movement in a way that reminded him annoyingly of himself. Already, she was pissing him off, and he'd only just sat down.

There was a dog randomly rolling around on the nearby grass.

Matt Finley seemed to be telling Thea a story.

"So what did they do?"

"What do you think they did? They practically turned everyone at camp into a solider and marched them off to war"

"Really? That's- that's-"

"Ultra cool?"

"Stupid! People could've gotten hurt-"

"People did get hurt. But we won the war."

Lyra gave a slight smile when Scarlet and Kyle joined the midst, sitting so close together their arms were touching.

The son of Hephaestus narrowed his eyes at her. "Scarlet? What're you doin' here? You said-"

"We had a change of plan, Zuke," she shrugged.

'Zuke' grunted, stood to his feet and quite simply walked away to sit somewhere else. Nobody else seemed to notice: nor did anybody notice as the son of Dionysus passed out on the floor, spilling the contents of his plastic beaker, which looked suspiciously like wine. Kyle and Scarlet were too wrapped up in each others' eyes to reall notice anything: the son of Apollo had his hands wrapped over his face as he lay on his back, so unless he could see through bone, he wasn't able to see, either.

Lyra was picking at the lace of her Converse when she said, in a quiet voice, "I'm guessing you have not been claimed yet? You don't look like a Hermes child."

"Not yet," he grumbled with a sharp glare at Thea, who had been watching him but looked away, suddenly finding the sky very interesting.

"You were claimed quite quickly, weren't you?" Lyra asked Thea, and Jacob really wished she hadn't.

"Yeah. Claimed after a few hours."

Why? Jacob was desperate to ask. What did you do that was so important? So special that you were claimed before me, even though I came here before you?

"What about you?" Her grey-green eyes addressed Matt, who was opening his mouth to say something before she cut him off. "Did it take long for you?"

"Sorta," he shrugged. "Two weeks, but I came at a bad time, so I think they-" He pointed to the sky. "-Were busy."

"Why-" Jacob started.

"I don't even know who claimed you," Thea interrupted, angering him more. Jeesh, didn't she think about anyone but herself?

Matt gave off an arrogant air by the way he said, "King of the gods, Zeus."

The colour quickly drained from Thea's face when she said, "Oh, cool."

"I should go, actually," Matt announced, jumping to his feet. "I'm training against Colt again tomorrow… I need my sleep…"

Kyle and Scarlet looked away from each other long enough to say goodbye.

"Matt," Lyra said when he stood up, her tanned face somewhat anxious. "If you see-

"I'll tell him you're here. Yeah, yeah, no problem. Bye, guys."

There was a weak chorus of 'bye', which excluded Jacob and Thea, as he walked away.

It was then that the blonde boy lying down seemed to come to life, or rather, wake up. He sat and leant back on his elbows, shaking his head so that his hair came out of his eyes.

He spoke directly to Thea, seeming to bring her out of a day dream as she resulted in blinking numerous times. "Matt usually brags about who his dad is. I'm surprised he didn't mention it to you." He didn't sound surprised at all.

"I don't see why, Riley," Lyra said. "He might have just wanted Thea, here, to not judge him by his parentage."

Riley gave her a stern look: the middle of his eyes were blind white. "What's the likelihood of that, then, Lyra?"

"You never know."

"Ha! Please. I've known Matt for four years."

"I have known him just as long as you have. Point being?"

"Wait. I don't get it," Jacob frowned, thinking aloud, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. "What's the biggie about him being Zeus' son?" (The sky rumbled threateningly up ahead.)

"Refer to the big guy as 'Z'. He doesn't like people using his name, and there isn't a 'biggie'," Riley told him in a clipped voice. "Not anymore. Before the war against Kronos, if you were one of the 'Big Three', you were some kind of special, dangerously-powerful half-blood."

Thea looked up and asked, "What's the 'Big Three'?"

Lyra said, "Zeu- I mean, Z-" (She pronounced it as "Zed" instead of "Zee"). "-Poseidon and Hades are all brothers, and they were considered the most powerful Olympians, too, so you can imagine the reception you would receive here at camp if you were claimed by one of them."

"But after the war against Kronos Poseidon's son, Percy Ja-"

"I've heard of him!"

"Well of course you have, Thea. He changed camp forever." Lyra smiled. "He told the gods they had to claim all of their children – and that was said to all of the gods, too. Not just the Olympians. That's why Matt being the son of Z isn't that important anymore. Well, of course, it _is_, because none of this changes him being King of the gods, but people pay more attention if you're the child of a Titan-"

"Like us." Riley was the son of a Titan? Well, Jacob had been wrong in thinking of Apollo.

"Or, especially, a child of Uranus or Gaia. They are the father and mother of the Titans, which makes them practically as powerful as powerful can become. You see? Z seems fairly inadequate compared to them, and perhaps some of the other Titans, too."

"So to conclude: Matt thinks he's all cool because he's the only son of Z at camp and he likes to slip it into conversations with girls because it makes them think he's super-awesome and powerful." He rolled his unseeing eyes.

Thea's brow furrowed as she cast Riley a displeased look. "Aren't you supposed to be his friend?"

"I am his friend. But where do you think he's gone now, Thea? Why do you think he left in such a hurry?"

"Er, I'm not really sure-"

"Obviously. He's gone to meet a girl called Tilly, she's a daughter of Demeter who's been cooing over him for weeks. He wouldn't say anything to you, of course. That's just logic. But to put it bluntly, Thea, as much as a friend he might be, he's a sneak. Nice guy, though."

"Really?" Scarlet interrupted eagerly. "He's off with that Tilly? Like, the one with the frizzy hair?"

He simply stared at her in response until she looked away.

Just as Riley started to talk to Thea in a much softer, quieter voice that meant none of the others could hear, Scarlet exclaimed, "Oh, look, Lyra! Cam's here!"

"Where?" She jumped up, looking around rapidly. "Oh, my gods! Cam!"

The smile on her face was perfectly audible in her voice as she ran over the grass by the Sound, jumping into a shadow and wrapping her arms around it.

At least, that's what Jacob thought as he watched her in confusion. The shadow turned out to be a person with jet black hair and clothes of the exact same colour, who seemed to blend in whenever the moving shadows passed over his body. The only colour upon him was the unattractive whiteness to his skin and the stains upon his jeans that was, clearly, blood.

"Oh, this is so _cute_!" Scarlet exclaimed, watching them intently with a delighted expression on her face. "He's been away on a quest, Kyle, did you know? I think they chose him because he's so good at fighting. He nearly beat an Ares kid: nearly. He's been gone for, like, six months and she hasn't seen him once since she left, not even in an Iris message – oh, look, they're kissing! This is so-totally romantic. She must be _so_ happy – she's not stopped talking about him, she's missed him so much! Gods, my mother really is a geni- Holy _shit_, Jacob, what's that above your head!"

-x-x-x-x-

"So I suppose this is your bed, then," Thea motioned, pointing to the other bed across the room that hadn't been there in the morning, although she didn't think it was the time to mention that. "Um, make yourself at home."

Jacob made no move toward the bed. He simply hovered near the door, clutching his backpack tightly in his hands, looking as if he had just been asked to solve a very difficult math question or be blasted by Zeus.

Thea felt the same way. Since the moment Matt had told her he was a son of Zeus himself, there'd been an uncomfortable, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that had refused to disappear. Only when she'd spoken to Riley quietly about her mortal family, (bearing in mind this was after he told her about how Matt thought he was some kind of cool ladies man, and before Jacob was claimed,), had the feeling slightly subsided. Even then, it had remained like a dull finger poking her in the arm, trying to get her attention. She'd wanted to pay attention to it, but had been too afraid of what it might tell her.

Perhaps she had had the wrong first impression of Riley, although his eyes still made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. How much different he would look without them…

Making a loud sighing sound Jacob threw his backpack onto the bed and starting pulling things out of it. "So," he said in dulcet tones. "Who claimed me?"

"You don't know?" Thea stared at him across the room.

He shook his head. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh." Should she give him the same book that she had read the night she had been claimed? No, that was pointless. It would only give him a bad impression of their mother. "Hera claimed us both. She is the Queen of the Heavens, goddess of marriage, family, childbirth and women."

He grumbled, "Great. I'm the son of a goddess of _women_."

"Imagine who the sons of Rhea feel."

"Who?"

"Rhea, the Titan goddess of motherhood, fertility and generation."

He seemed to consider this. "Good point."

Thea wasn't sure exactly what to make of this stranger, who it turns out, was her half-brother. They looked so alike it was insane that she had never twigged that they were perhaps related beforehand. Somehow, though, the two of them seemed quite different. Wasn't he proud that he had been claimed? Wasn't he proud that his mother was the Queen of the Heavens?

She was.

"You look like me."

"No shit," Jacob snapped. "Did you only just notice."

"No; but you _really _look like me. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Why?"

"When's your birthday?"

"August third. _Why_?"

The two of them anxiously stared symmetrical stares. Thea was almost hesitant to speak. "Me too."

"So that makes us-"

"Twins. And we got here on the same day."

"But you were claimed and I wasn't." The cold edge to his voice spoke for itself. "Can you explain that?"

No, she couldn't. She wasn't about to question or even attempt to understand the ways of the gods, or why they claim people, or the reasons why they wait to claim people. Instead, she branched for a new topic. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Combat," Jacob replied instantly.

The two of them shared, for a nano second, complete understanding.

Thea nodded, very slightly.

Combat.


	7. Capture The Flag

Chapter Seven: Capture the Flag.

It was just after twelve and Jacob thought he'd never felt so hungry. After waking up at seven o'clock, managing a very brief breakfast of toast and heading straight down to the armoury, he had not stopped all morning.

Who knew training would be so difficult?

"It'll be a piece of cake!" he'd grinned encouragingly to Thea on their way to the combat range, dragging a crate full of weapons behind them. "You watch. I bet we'll be at kick-ass level in no time."

Naturally, he had been mistaken. Training was, in fact, not as easy as he had imagined – not by a long shot. Weapons were heavy and every sword he tried felt unbalanced: shields were awkward and hard to hold steadily: keeping light on your toes was just as tricky, and when the person you're training with is your newly-found sister, it puts a slight damper on things.

Thea, on the other hand, had imagined training to be even more gruelling than it had turned out to be. The opposite to what Jacob had visualized, she had predicted that picking up a sword in general would be a big enough challenge, and that swinging it would be even harder.

So for her, training had been a slight relief, but that didn't mean it was easy. Still, she tried, swapping weapons every twenty minutes for lack of liking them, trying as best she could but never really succeeding.

By the time lunch came, both were covered in sweat, dirt and even a little blood, sore from where their armour had rubbed against their skin, with rumbling stomachs.

Just before they began to eat, Chiron, in full centaur form, stood and called for attention.

"A brief reminder, half-bloods, of your cabin inspections tomorrow night, and our next game of Capture the Flag is to be held this Friday. I encourage _all _of you," – Jacob was sure that his eyes slid towards the Aphrodite cabin. – "to take part in this active camp activity, and, with that, I shall leave you to eat. To the gods!"

"To the gods!" everybody chorused, holding up their goblets.

Immediately, Thea rounded on him. "We are _so_ taking part."

-x-x-x-

Over the next five days they trained all as much as they could: in the mornings combat was an essential and after lunch Jacob tried the lava-wall or canoeing, while Thea preferred archery, which she thought was even harder than combat but easier, too.

Their evenings were gladly left to socializing. The Long Island Sound was proving to be a good place to hang out: Thea and Jacob both looked forward to it, though that was something they wouldn't admit to anyone.

Five days was enough to notice who the "regulars" were. Scarlet, alongside many of her siblings and usually Kyle, too, was always there, laughing as if she didn't have a care in the world and simply enjoying herself. Lyra often appeared with a book or one of her friends, keeping quiet but being there nonetheless. Zuke also turned up, though he appeared to be quite a solitary figure and didn't usually speak. Thea thought he and Lyra would probably get a long quite well.

Matt, of course, was always there. So was a son of Dionysus named Dave who had an annoying but amusing air about him; twin sisters Helen and Mandy Tinker, daughters of Apollo, regularly sat nearby and commented occasionally on the conversation. They were nice girls, Thea decided, but a little too optimistic for her liking. Completely identical, too: it was impossible to tell them apart. Unless they spoke, which gave them away completely as Mandy's voice was notable lower than Helen's quiet soprano.

It became routine, really, to finish off the evening meal and then join the others on the Sound. Unwinding was essential when you had spent the day testing your strengths and getting sweaty and the Sound was such a pretty place that it was perfectly ideal.

"Alliances" were apparently essential to succeeding in a game of Capture the Flag, something that Lyra taught Jacob when she asked if the Hera cabin would like to become allies with the Hyperion cabin. It was the first of several alliances: by Thursday they had allied with the cabins of Hyperion, Zeus, Dionysus, Apollo, and Aphrodite – though it didn't seem they would be all that much help.

"Not a bad turnout," Jacob commented as they settled down on the Sound once more after going through the list. "Considering we're new."

"It's an _excellent_ turn out, considering we're new," corrected Thea matter-of-factly, "but it's a poor turnout overall."

Defensive, Jacob asked, "What you mean "a poor turnout"? We've got five alliances and we haven't even been here five minutes. If that's a poor turnout I'm a goldfish."

"Well get your scales out 'cause it's true."The look on his face gave off the impression she was talking absolute gibberish, so she started to explain. "Jake, there's hundreds of cabins here. At least a hundred. And we have five alliances? When we could have a hundred? That's poor. Seriously. I was talking to Matt earlier-"

"Here we go again." He performed a dramatic eye-roll. "You spend more time talking to him than you do eating or breathing."

"I do _not_. You completely exaggerate."

"I so do not."

"Oh, whatever. Anyway, like I was saying before you rudely interrupted-" Again, he rolled his eyes. So similar, so like hers. "Matt said that the children of Peitho have got at least thirty alliances. Thirty! Do you realize how crap that makes us look?"

Pulling at his laces which seemed adamant to stay tied, Jacob took on a haughty tone. "You just answered that one for yourself. Their mom is the spirit of _persuasion_ and _seduction. _It'd be almost impossible to say no to them. I mean, come on... They look good enough to belong with Aglaea."

"But not good enough for Aphrodite?" she smirked, to which Jacob responded by blushing. He knew she'd caught him ogling Scarlet.

"Look at you!" Lyra said cheerfully. They'd taken seat beside her, but she had hardly said a word, her nose buried into a worn book. "You're learning about the gods quite quickly, aren't you? You already remember Aglaea and Peitho!"

"I wonder why?" Jacob snorted. "You go on about them often enough."

Lyra blinked a couple of times, her brow puckering. "I'm trying to teach you Ancient Greek like Chiron asked me to-"

"Lyra, I was joking." He held up his hands in a "stop" sign.

"Oh," she said simply with a brief smile before returning to her book.

For an hour or so they remained on the Sound before withdrawing to cabin two, hoping for an early night's sleep before their first ever game of Capture the Flag.

Thea didn't know if Jacob slept quickly or not. She on the other hand seemed to be having trouble drifting off: her brain was simply buzzing too quickly.

Already she was starting to feel uneasy. There was, of course, no chance that she would capture the flag. The only reason she was taking part was simply that – to take part. Not a single part of her wanted to sit out such a treasured activity. Plus, Capture the Flag was a weekly event: she was going to have to get used to it.

One thing that worried her was not the concept of winning but the concept of _fighting_. Having to battle against other demigods who would all be much more experienced than herself... Having to put her brief training to the test, to see how her amateur skills matched up to those of the professionals... Well, it wasn't looking very good, was it?

Even in training she struggled, so how was she supposed to handle a real one-on-one challenge? Or worse – what if people teamed up against her? Three-on-one, maybe, or even more? The prospects were looking bleak. Very bleak, indeed.

With a sword she would most likely cause herself a serious injury. With a dagger or a knife she would feel clumsy and as small as her weapon. With a bow-and-arrow, perhaps in the future there would be a chance of her being an equal challenger to those of more experienced skills: however, at the moment, her aim was poor and she didn't want to think about what would happen if she tried her hand at archery tomorrow.

Spears were her favoured weapon. They were long and not as heavy as swords, good for jabbing and stabbing and then darting out of the way. If she wanted to, she could throw a spear – but the idea of being left weapon-less was certainly not her idea of fun. It appeared that a spear and a shield would be her choice of weaponry, and she could only hope she would be alright with simply that.

Jacob, on the other hand, had higher chances of accomplishing something. He had a determined attitude and had trained thinking of it as not training, but a challenge to see if he could beat himself. Over the past five days he had gotten used to using a particular longsword and though he, too, was simply a novice with novice skills, he was light on his feet and aware of watching his back. There was a chance he would do well.

Thinking of Jacob, Thea turned onto her side to glance across at him, sprawled out star-fish-style on the bed with his mouth hanging open. The sight almost made her smile.

Spending all of her time with him had had an effect on her. Before now she would have thought it was impossible to have affection for somebody she hardly knew, but, well... At times, she forgot that Jacob was practically a stranger and he was simply her brother.

Whenever he snapped a sarcastic comment or rolled his eyes, she saw a piece of herself within him. It was like being with a long-lost friend, in a way... To Thea, it felt like they had known each other forever but simply forgotten.

How ironic it seemed.

Having that thought planted firmly in her mind, Thea drifted into an easy, dreamless sleep, almost smiling.

-x-x-x-

With the morning came the sun and with the sun came the heat. It was, after all, the middle of July. Summer was well under way. On many levels the heat was a good thing. After all, what was better than the idea of lazing on the Camp Half Blood beach in a pair of shorts, catching a tan with your newly-made friends? Thea had to admit, the idea was appealing.

Such a shame that the heat was not quite enjoyable when you were wearing full-body battle armour.

"Isn't it brilliant?" Helen Tinker called as everybody made their way toward the forest. "All this sunshine? I love it!"

Jacob groaned. "I'm sweating all ready. It's too hot!"

"The sun makes everything much brighter," Mandy said seriously while she pulled her helmet over her head. "We'll really be able to see what we're doing and see who's hiding behind the trees."

"There goes our plan of hiding behind the trees," Thea mumbled as the twin sisters jogged off to join the rest of their siblings, practically bouncing with enthusiasm.

Actually, it wasn't as bright as the Tinker's had predicted: the trees offered a shield from the sun, plunging them into dim, pale lighting that did no justice for the possible beauty of the forest. Chiron gathered the demigods on the outskirts, which proved to be quite a crowd, even though a lot of cabins had decided not to take part.

"You all have three minutes to prepare. On the sound of this horn, the game begins. Anything goes – any magical items or weaponry are permitted. You are fighting for your lives... Or the chance not to do the chores. Whichever cabin captures the flag first will be declared winner." He pointed forward, towering above them in full stallion form as he was acting as the healer of the game. To Thea, that meant people were going to get hurt: a knot in her chest tightened. "

"Go."

Nobody hesitated. Many set off at a run, all heading deeper into the forest and branching off in countless different directions.

Above the excited voices of campers, Jacob called out to Thea who was running ahead. "Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Not really!" she called back. "I'm just, er, using deductive reasoning to find a good place to start!"

"You're leaving the entire fate of this game to _guessing_?"

"Er- yes!"

He stumbled over an uplifted tree root but managed to catch up, prodding his finger in the opposite direction. "Everybody else is going left!"

At least, a majority of people were heading toward the left side of the forest. Colt Strawley, the leader of the Ares cabin, was leading the rest of his cabin the same way they were going."But right is good," Jacob decided as they moved even deeper, careful to watch their footing on the unsafe earth below.

Thea announced, "Here!"

Skidding to a halt in a small clearing she looked for a second before pulling the shield off of her back, and then the long spear beneath it. Jacob copied, though he had no spear but a long, celestial-bronze longsword, in the same moment that a very loud conch horn echoed across the grounds.

It felt like they had been thrown in at the deep end. Some people shouted, some screamed – there was a quiet, frightened wail that may have come from Thea.

There was no time feel afraid.

Around them, the world began to move. Or it seemed to as they ran from the clearing, weapons drawn and bodies lowered in a semi-crouch in aid of not being seen. Though they ran, they ran quietly, managing to avoid stepping on any breakable twigs or slippery patches of muck. Neither of them knew what they were running to but they were on alert, looking around with apprehensive expression and listening for any signs of life other than themselves.

Nobody, by a stroke of luck, had crossed their path. Was this a good thing? Was this bad? Where was everybody – had they indeed gone the wrong way?

Thea pulled to a stop and practically glued herself to a nearby tree, Jacob copying her through common sense.

"What?"

"Ssh!" she hissed before nodding her head in the direction. From where she gestured, there seemed to be the sound of footsteps: light footfalls not meant to be heard until suddenly they became much louder, combined with the sounds of clashing blades.

"How many do you think there is?" she whispered, squinting in order to hear.

Jacob strained his ears. "I dunno," he told her. "I'm crap with listening. Four? Five?"

"Reckon we should give it a go?"

Momentarily, he hesitated. "Alright. But let's look first, yeah?"

"Agreed."

Together they trod slowly, creeping forward to the bushes where, just beyond, they knew their enemies were waiting. Careful not to rustle the leaves they peered through, confused at what they saw.

There were five people. Two were battling one, who had the obvious downfall at being out-numbered, while the other two people walked around in a zombie-like state, their weapons discarded on the floor as they trudged around in circles.

"It's Dave!" Thea said suddenly. "Dave! Look, he's all on his own-"

"-Two on one? That's crap!-"

"Well I'm making it two-on-two!" Without another word Thea took a breath and jumped through the hedge: "Three-on-two!" Jacob called, jumping after her.

Okay, so they weren't being incredibly brave or gallant by jumping to Dave's rescue. In fact, Thea's heart was pounding and her fingers trembled, while Jacob felt nothing but a mix of adrenaline and hesitation. Maybe if it had been someone they didn't know they would have left them fighting, but it was one of their new friends -a very funny new friend, - who, for the first time, did not have a smile on his face. Plus, the two campers he was fighting seemed quite clumsy with their weapons, not exactly the hardest match in the world.

` As for the zombie kids, Thea didn't even think about them.

"Dave!" she shouted as her feet hit the earth.

He looked up and obvious relief swept across his face, but he didn't have the chance to reply as his opponent growled and made a swing for the ankles.

Jabbing with her spear Thea hit one in the back: they spun around with a nasty sneer on their dirt-smudged face. There was no time to recognise him... A curved sword was aiming right for her chest.

Quickly she managed to block it with her shield and dodge out of the way, parrying the next strike and nearly tripping over her own laces.

Dave was coping again, grinning as he fought against only one person.

Ducking and stabbing, Thea tried to keep and somehow get behind her opponent. "Jacob!" she yelled over the sound of metals clashing as the boy smiled nastily after almost chopping her hand off. "A little help over here!"

"Can't fight yer' own battles?" hissed the stout boy, though his voice showed strain.

"No," she admitted hastily, bashing against his sword with her shield once more. "Jacob! Now would be nice!"

"Thea, look!" yelled Dave.

She turned: Jacob was staring, zombie-like, with his weapons lying pointlessly on the ground.

"Jake? What the fu-_ ouch_!"

A sharp pain stabbed into her side. Looking down just in time to see a curved sword pulling away from the chink in her armour, Thea watched in disbelief as a thin line of scarlet already began to stain the white t-shirt beneath.

"Ha!" bellowed her opponent. "I got you! I got you!"

Thea heard herself snarl. She felt her arm swing upwards. She heard her shield smack him in the face, but... Well, it hadn't been her intention for him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Dashing to Jacob, the glazed look in his eyes made her mouth fall open. This was serious.

"Dave! Dave! What's... What's happened to him? Dave!"

As she shook her dazed brother, slapping his cheeks in an attempt to regain his attention, purple water shot against them out of nowhere.

"Sorry!" said Dave hastily. "I meant to get water but wine came and-"

"What's going on?" Jacob demanded while blinking rapidly, apparently back to normal, now. "W-where am I?"

"The forest. We're in the middle of Capture the Flag. Don't you remember?"

"I r-remember... I just c-can't s-see!"

"Er, what?"

"I-I can't see! I've g-gone blind!"

The frantic look in her eyes told her he was telling the truth.

Dave whispered, "It's official. He's lost it."

"He hasn't lost it," a casual voice said from behind them. "I didn't realize it was him."

Jacob let out a frightened wail and covered his face with his hands, crying out, "Why can't I see? Why can't I- I can see, I can see!"

"See?" Riley said with a sad, almost twisted smile. "All better now."

"Holy crap, what just happened?" demanded Jacob, looking around as though he couldn't be more grateful for having his sight. "I was just looking around and- and- it all went dark..."

"It was simple, really," drawled Riley, prodding the unconscious body of Thea's attacker with his foot, beside which the other fighter lay drowsily. "You lost your sight for a couple of minutes. But you got it back, so it's all good."

"All good!" echoed Dave. "Who wants to go get that flag, then?"

"Hold up. Did – did _you_ do that?" whispered Jacob. Thea stared at Riley expectantly, half-horror-struck and half-awe-struck.

He shrugged in a non-chalant way. "Yeah. It looked like you were attacking Dave, too. Thought it wasn't fair if he was outnumbered."

"You made him go blind?" gasped Thea, feeling a chill in the wind. "How? How did you do that?"

His cold, empty eyes stared right at her. "Some of us can do things like that. I suppose you just can't."

"What's that supposed to-"

"He's right, ya know, Thee. Some demigods have, like, some kind of "power" from their godly parent. I dunno, it's weird. We can do stuff – Dionysus' kids, yaknow, - but people like Athena's kids can't, see? It's all, I dunno, to do with what the gods can do."

"Nobody told us about this," Jacob murmured while he picked up his sword. "And a bit of warning could have been nice before you turned the world black."

"You would have done the same."

"What do you mean?" snapped Thea. "I don't think anybody would turn someone blind!-"

"Oh, really? Even though it looked like there was a seven-on-one battle about to go down? Nah, id don't think so, Thea. You would have done the same, too."

"I would have!" grinned Dave, although nobody seemed to listen.

Nobody said anything for a short, awkward moment. In that short space, Riley Hart seemed almost... Frightening.

"Let's go, Thea," Jacob urged.

"Alright," she said. "... See you guys later."

"Good luck!" called Dave as they slipped from the small space.

Riley said nothing.

"Crap, are you okay?" Thea asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yeah..." The colour in his cheeks had faded: his eyes were wide and child-like. Thea didn't believe he was alright for a second. "That was-"

"Weird."

"Scary. Did you see his face? He looked fine, as if that was _normal_."

"He is blind himself, remember. It probably is normal to him..."

"Thea, don't defend him. That ain't normal – you don't do that to someone, man! That guy's got an attitude problem."

"Yeah."

In the distance there was a very loud, very obvious cry of anger: almost immediately there was a flurry of sound. Blades clashing, the _whiz_ of arrows flying, voices yelling, feet pounding against the solid, hard earth...

"That's where the flag is!"

"Shall we go?"

"We might as well."

And so they were running again. This time they made no attempts to stay quiet – what was the point with all of that noise covering their steps? – and allowing themselves to stomp heavily on the ground carried them further into the forest at a much quicker speed. Thea tripped; Jacob stumbled. Once they were spied by an archer who shot an arrow in their direction – luckily they weren't a son of Apollo and so they had not been successful in their shot.

Within a few short minutes they burst into possibly the biggest clearing in the forest where absolute mayhem had erupted into full-blown chaos.

The clearing was at least the size of the dining pavilion and it was full to bursting of fighting demigods, all with fierce expressions as they battled in aid of winning. Three people were just visible against the outskirts of the trees, apparently badly wounded and being attended to by Chiron: somebody was being chased around in circles for attempting to flee, and it was clear that the thickest of the battle was around the outskirts of a mound of rock, upon which stood a tall, golden flag.

"Good luck," Thea whispered.

"No!" hissed Jake, pulling her back much to her alarm. "Stick together. Better chances!"

"Right, right... Got it. Wait- you don't actually want to get the flag, do you?"

"'Course not. We're new. That's rude. We'll just distract a few people and let one of our allies win. Fair?"

"Fair."

"Let's go."

Back to back they started to move, shields in place and weapons at the ready. The first person they stumbled upon was certainly not an easy target – whoever it was they had excellent battle reflexes and dodged their strikes easily. He clearly had the upper-hand until Jacob aimed for his feet at the same moment Thea aimed for the head. What could he do? Split in half? No, he toppled to the floor, defeated, and they moved on to the next victim. Again, it wasn't easy for the girl they fought had two long daggers in each hand, which meant she could fight both of them at once. She, however, was very eager to see who was by the flag and made the mistake of turning to glance behind, to which Thea struck her spear between her legs and tripped her over.

Then it happened.

A breeze pressed against them, soft at first until it changed. Stronger, stronger, the wind was around them, pushing against their backs so that they were moving, stumbling, tripping away from each other- Jacob reached out, he tried to grab onto something, but three campers engaged in a fierce battle obscured his vision and knocked his hand away.

Somewhere, Jacob heard Thea calling out his name... However, it was not Thea who saved him next.

"Jacob! Duck!"

The familiar accent snapped him back to his sense and he dropped to the floor just as a double-edged sword sliced through the air where his helmet had been only a second earlier.

"Cheat!" a high voice yelled.

"It's not cheating," Lyra said matter-of-fatly, "it's teamwork, you idiot."

Looking up, Jacob saw a tall, angry dark-haired girl spring for Lyra yielding her sword before she jumped back wailing, shielding her eyes, for an impossible light filled the air.

At first he thought it was actually the sun, for it was a large spherical shape and almost painfully bright, until he saw that strings of the light were pouring from the tips of Lyra's fingers. She looked haughtily at the girl as she cringed back from the light and darted away, almost dropping her sword.

"Don't you think you should get up?" asked Lyra as the light seemed to dim, fading rapidly. "You'll get hurt if you sit down there all day."

"What the-? How did you-?"

While grabbing his forearm and pulling him up, she heaved a heavy sigh and handed him his sword, which had slipped clumsily from his fingers. "Hyperion. Titan god of light. Do I really have to explain it?"

"Uh- no." Mentally, he shook himself.

"Americans," she _tsk_ed. "You're gonna have to get used to people being able to _do_ things, Jacob, else you won't last long here. Come on, there's a flag with my name on it and we're wasting time standing around."

"Right."

Following Lyra, (why was it he always seemed to be following people lately?), he made his way closer to the pile of rocks, clashing blades with somebody occasionally whenever Lyra gave him a helpful heads-up. Arms heavy from carrying the sword and shield for so long, sweat dripped down the side of his face: it was so hot, and the armour dug painfully into his sides, which wasn't helping. A break would be nice... A can of Pepsi, a shower, too... Maybe even-

"_Argh!_"

Falling to the hard earth, he wailed, hitting his funny-bone on the edge of his shield, which he didn't think was funny at all. "Ow, crap, crap! Who the hell-?"

"Sorry, Jacob," said the girl looming over him, merely a silhouette against the backdrop of sun overhead. "I just really want that flag."

A sword similar to his own came down from nowhere in a blur of metal, aiming for the chink in his armour – rolling quickly, he thought he'd managed to avoid the attack when an unexpected, sharp pain burst through his arm...

"Sorry, Jacob," she repeated with a sad smile, taking aim again.

This time he was ready.

Kicking out, he hit her wrist with his foot and knocked the sword clean out of her hands. Stealing the chance he jumped to his feet while she stared distractedly after her weapon.

There was just enough time to grab his own sword by the time she had retrieved her own and rounded on him, though the shield lay uselessly on the nearby ground.

And then they were fighting, _really_ fighting, the kind of fight he had been waiting for. There was hardly any time to think: his world was nothing but his sword and her, his first proper opponent, who fought back at him with practiced skill.

She had injured his left arm, but in the heat of the moment, it merely felt like a scratch.

Dodging, ducking, diving, he tried to keep moving, to keep distance when he lunged and tired her out. Alas, it appeared they shared the same technique. The girl darted forward to strike and then danced backwards again, hopping from foot to foot with the same confident smile on her lips. Subconsciously, Jacob realized she was vaguely familiar, but there was no time to ponder that thought as she struck again: he parried her strike and then moved backwards.

To beat her he would have to drop his technique and act on instinct alone.

As practiced as her moves were, they were the same novice moves Jacob had been learning, so she was most likely fairly new, too.

"Come on, then!" she taunted, stepping on the balls of her feet and making an 'eight' figure in the air with her sword. "Try me, or are you too afraid?"

Without delay Jacob lunged, darting forward and swinging, but she had predicted that and managed to slip to the left just in time to miss being disarmed – literally.

"You're not very good, are you?" she grinned before dashing forward and attacking.

Blocking with his sword Jacob pushed: she stumbled backwards and wobbled dangerously on bad footing.

"Neither are you!" he snapped back, stabbing while she was off-balance and really knocking her over. Tumbling, she let out a high squeal as her helmet fell off and her sword dropped out of her hands nearby.

Without hesitation Jacob grabbed it and pointed the almost twin-like swords down at her. His was heavier, he noticed, as he was about to strike.

"Go on, then," she groaned, reaching to rub at the back of her head while grimacing up at him with cold grey-blue eyes. "Finish me off. Hit a girl. Win the game. Do it and see if you feel more like a man."

What? he thought stupidly. She gave him a last look of pure loathing before murmuring, "Sorry, Jacob."

_Oh, I'm such an idiot._

Her foot kicked out and hit him right in his weak spot with perfect aim.

Both weapons tumbled to the floor as he dropped to his knees, eyes watering, cursing furiously through the instant burst of pain.

And then he watched, dumfounded, as she grabbed her sword, ran to the rocks and climbed up far quicker than he could have. Everybody else was too wrapped up in their own battles to notice until Lyra's loud English accent let out a cry of, "No! The flag!"

Somebody shot a volley of allows: a spear and an axe were thrown from separate directions, landing harmlessly at the rocks base.

"To Hermes!" cried the girl as she pulled the flag into the air and waved it notoriously through the air.

An absolute uproar of cheers came from the many scattered members of the Hermes cabin and Jacob remembered numbly that he recognised the girl because she, too, had been one of the undetermined people in the Hermes cabin.

He didn't care. He had been beaten by a girl.

-x-x-

It was some point later on in the day that she approached him.

With hair still wet from having just left the shower block, it was just as Thea was recalling to him that it had been her who had thrown the spear when he saw her coming right toward them.

"Sorry, Jacob," she recited for the fourth time, a small smile playing across her face as she held out her hand. "No hard feelings, right? How's your arm?"

Suspiciously, he took her hand with his right arm and gestured to his left, where a bandage was visible, bloody and fresh. In the heat of the moment the damage had seemed minor, but it had, in fact, been a fairly deep, painful wound.

"Healing," he said gruffly. "Did Hermes claim you, then?"

She didn't look like she should be in the Hermes cabin. She was probably only an inch shorter than Jacob, with light blonde hair currently tied back into a ponytail and eyes that were neither grey nor blue, but something in-between. Now that she wasn't in armour, "Mrs...First" was wearing white shorts, flats and the common "CAMP ROCKS!" t-shirt. Under her arm she had rolled up a towel.

She frowned. "No. Why?"

"You said 'to Hermes' so I thought-"

"Well, yeah, I couldn't exactly just shout the name of any random god, could I?"

Now he felt very stupid. "Or goddess," he grumbled.

Oddly, she laughed. "Is this your sister?" Stepping to Thea she held out her hand.. "You're Thea, right?"

"Yeah... How did you?..."

"The Hermes girls like to gossip. You hear all sorts from them. I'm Ellie Raymond... Undetermined, obviously." They shook hands.

Thea brushed her damp hair back. "Nice to meet you," she said uncertainly. "We should be going now-"

"Yeah," Jacob echoed eagerly. "I'm starving."

Ellie smiled. "Okay, then. I'll see you guys around some time."

"Yeah..." Thea said.

Jacob mumbled, "See you," and they walked away in silence. He glanced back once and suffered the embarrassment of seeing that she was looking back, too, traces of the smile still visible on her face.

"Alright, that was just too weird," hissed Thea after the shower blocks had disappeared behind them. "Seriously."

"I know. I've been in the Hermes cabin and the girls don't gossip a lot, they're always busy being sneaky, and she knew our names-"

"That's not what I meant. Jake," grabbing him by the shoulder, Thea gave him a very serious look. "Remember when we were back to back and then something-"

"Pulled us apart? I remember."

"Right. Well _she_ was there, watching us. Like, _really_ watching us, staring like she was really concentrating and I thought that, well... Well it _felt_ like-"

"Like she was 'doing' it," he finished for her. "Like she was doing one of those weird things Dave told us about."

"Yes!" she cried triumphantly. "Exactly!"

Trying not to be patronizing, Jacob wiped a drip of water off of his chin and gave her a slightly obnoxious look. "Thea, that's insane. No offence. She's not been claimed yet, so how could she unleash some sort of kick-ass voodoo wind stuff on us when her godly parent could be, like, Aphrodite or something?"

Eyes narrowing, Thea asked, "Do you think she's pretty enough to be Aphrodite's daughter?"

"What? Thea, don't twist things. I just meant 'cause I doubt Aphrodite's kids could do that. Jeeze. Anyway, think about it. we've been here for, like, a week and we can't do anything ye-"

"Why do you think that is?"

Jacob swore he heard something like disappointment in her voice.

"Hera's the goddess of women, marriage and childbirth. I doubt that means we can 'do' anything."

"I- we- well, yeah, I guess, but- oh, you know what I mean. Ellie isn't some super-special demigod, alright? She probably just has a staring problem and we got caught in a bad breeze."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were defending her."

"It's lucky you know better, then, isn't it? Come on. I could kill for some chicken right now and I wanna eat quick so I can get back to the cabin."

"Uh... Why?"

"_Why_?" he repeated, raising both eyebrows at her. "I need to straighten my hair. Duh."

Laughing, she said, "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. When you look this good, you gotta put some effort in."

"Ha, 'when you look this good'," she chortled as they started walking again, following the scent of barbeque that was wafting over camp like a delicious good omen. "Sounds to me like you think _you_ should be the one in the Aphrodite cabin."

With a dramatic, wet-hair flick, Jacob put his hands on his hips and pretended to be walking down a run way. "With legs like these, even Aphrodite'd be jealous!" he joked.

Thea burst out laughing and gave him a 'cut it out' shove. Grinning, Jacob walked normally again and for the first time, he wasn't walking with Thea Harman.

He was walking with his sister.


	8. An Angry Accident

Chapter Eight: An Angry Accident.

"You know, if you keep using that spear you'll cause some real damage."

Recognising the voice, Thea sighed, not bothering to ask how he knew what weapon she was practicing. He could see _everything_, right?

"That's the whole point," she snapped, aiming again at the target dummy and throwing the way her gym teacher had taught her to throw a javelin. Once again, it missed.

"I meant cause yourself some damage, and by the way, you're throwing wrong."

I know I am! her mind growled angrily in response. I just can't do it!

"If you know so much about it, why don't you come and do it yourself?" Turning, she saw him leaning casually on the amphitheatre wall.

He gave her a slow, sarcastic smile. "I can't. Blind people don't do that well with aiming."

To that she was not quite sure what to say, and so she settled for retrieving the spear.

Around half an hour earlier she had started practicing her spear-throwing, having failed her attempt during Capture the Flag, and the training was prove to be useless. By the minute she was growing less and less fond of the year. Why was she even bothering to waste away yet another glorious summery day throwing a pointy stick around when she could be relaxing on The Sound, or doing something more useful, like archery?

"What do you want, Riley?" she asked when she was back in her firing spot, taking up her aiming position again and glaring at the dummy only a mere distance away, as if that was going to help.

"Just passing by," he replied.

Once again, Thea's shot failed and the spear clanked noisily on the stone floor in their dense silence.

"Not come to steal my sight, then?" she muttered.

"No," he shrugged coolly.

Thea cast Riley a dark glare. She was still angry about what he'd done to Jacob, even if it had been an accident. To her, it seemed, in many ways, sinister. What he had done... To steal somebody's sight? To render them into darkness when you alone know exactly how that feels? How awful it is?

Wrong. Bad. Immoral.

Who knew somebody with such light hair could be so... dark? Oh, the irony. Looking at his cold, sightless eyes, she suddenly felt angry again. Those eyes weren't right – there was something bad about them. The strong sapphire set against the ghostly white pupils... It was such a contrast. If only he had different eyes... Without that imperfection, maybe... Possibly...

Stop it! she thought sharply to herself, thinking of how Hera threw Hephaestus off of Mount Olympus for being imperfect. Listen to yourself!

"You should go, Riley."

Sighing loudly he tucked his hands into his jeans and started walking toward her. A staff-like stick leant against the amphitheatre wall. "You've got it so wrong, Thea."

"What're you talking about?"

"Your brother. The whole 'blind' thing. You're blowing it way out of proportion." His voice was annoyingly matter-of-fact.

"You took his sight away! That's wrong, it's-"

"For gods _sake_, it's not wrong!" he shouted suddenly. Hurt flashed across his face and realisation dawned quickly of what she'd just said, and to who she'd said it to.

"Oh- oh crap- I didn't mean it like that, I just meant, you know-"

"Whatever." The anger in his voice was loud, even if his voice was quiet.

Guilt was tugging on her insides already. "Look, I didn't mean being – you know – I just meant _making_ someone – you know... I mean, you can't just do that to somebody, it's selfish, it's-"

Riley sprang at her. She didn't even have a second to take a breath when his hands were millimetres from her face-

They were on her eyes, wielding her into darkness, and he was standing behind her.

"It's not so bad, is it?" he asked.

Thea didn't know whether to be afraid or confused, because his voice wasn't threatening and neither was his touch. "I d-don't know."

"What about this?"

"What about-? Oh!"

All of a sudden she was standing high upon a mountain top, her head barely skimming the clouds, looking out across a city that took her breath away. It was Greece, she knew that from the styles of the buildings: it stretched on for miles and miles, thousands of tiny white houses...

Now she was looking out of a floor-to-ceiling penthouse window in New York. The sky was pitch darkness, the lights of the city dancing around her, the Empire State Building visible just a few blocks away...

A meadow, a beautiful, luscious meadow filled with glorious, tall flowers too wild to name, beneath a perfect, clear blue sky...

Camp Half Blood stretched out around her, full of life and laughter: pegasi soared through the air, naiads danced along the creek, a lovely melody of voices chorused in a campfire song...

"How are you doing this?" she whispered. His hands were still there, still covering her eyes, - she could feel that much, - but what she was seeing was so realistic, so detailed that she may as well be standing on Half-Blood Hill and not in the middle of the amphitheatre.

Again, the scene changed and she was upon the roof of a wonderful castle, overlooking the pacific ocean that covered every inch of visible space...

"Magic?" he said sarcastically.

In the real world she elbowed him in the ribs while her minds eye showed her the sky, rich and glamorous all around her, stars shining like magnificent diamonds reflecting off of her skin. If she reached out, if she stretched her arm, she might just be able to touch them...

"Some of us can do things. I can do this: I can make you see what you want."

"Really? That's-"

"I can take your sight temporarily, which you already know. I can cast down the shining light of the clear blue sky to surround you... It's a weapon."

"This? A weapon?" Shaking her head she felt him remove his hands, but the visions in her mind did not cease. The starry scene remained. "It's not a weapon. It's brilliant."

"You think so, huh? Well try and tell me this isn't a weapon."

Without warning, it changed again, and Thea was horrified, frightened at what she saw. She wanted to help, she tried, but her arms just wouldn't move!

Lying on the floor, his dark brown eyes glassy and vacant, blood seeping from several separate wounds in his chest, was Jacob.

"Stop it, Riley," she asked, her voice cracking. "I don't wanna see this-"

Jacob, merely skin and bones with dark shadows around his sunken eyes kneeled at her feet, clawing at her clothes and begging, pleading, desperately asking her for help she knew she couldn't give him.

"-Stop it, I don't like this, I don't-"

Matt stood across a long room. Jacob looked at him with a look of such sadness it was painful.

"Do it," he said in a dead voice. "Just do it."

Matt looked only mildly affected. "Sorry, dude."

The gun popped and Thea could see again.

Back in the amphitheatre, her fingers were trembling against the beat of her racing heart. Staring across at Riley, who had re-tucked his hands into his jean, he stared equally back with an unreadable expression.

Quietly, his voice barely a murmur, he said, "You try and tell me that isn't a weapon."

Thea lunged.

It came from nowhere, but it controlled her completely, coursing through her veins like poison – hot and acidic, it burned with the strength of a fire and pulsed in her ears: too loud... Much too loud...

Riley barely had a second to cry out when her attack hit him in the stomach and sent him crashing into the nearby wall.

Only, she hadn't hit him. She hadn't touched him at all.

It was the air.

It gathered and thickened like a black cloud, slamming into his gut and shoving him with too much force.

She didn't know what made her do it – she was acting on instinct, something she had been fighting against for her entire life.

Her outstretched hand spread to show her palm and her entire arm stiffened as her fingers tensed, bending until they were claw-like. In her head she felt a sudden pressure building up, something that had been there all along. It grew stronger, stronger until her head felt like it might explode and she heard herself yell above the roaring in her ears.

It burst out of her so suddenly she _felt_ the pressure charge down her arm and out of her palm in a mass of darkness, pain and anger. It shot forward like an athlete and coiled around his waist.

The image of Matt releasing the trigger and the bullet shattering Jacob's body replayed in her mind and she cringed involuntarily, flinging her arm behind her.

Riley's body followed. His entire torso was wrapped in thick, writhing black cloud speckled with the image of distant, dangerous, alluring stars.

Inside her, something let go and her entire body felt weak. Horrified, she dropped her arms. What had she done?

There was a low moan in the amphitheatre that wasn't her own; Thea ran.

Running, she vowed not to look back. If only she could get out of there faster, get away from what she had done-

Just then, he called out, and it was her who seemed to shatter.

"Thea? Th-Thea? Where are you? I can't- I can't-"

It was then that she made the first of many mistakes.

She took a breath and turned around.

Riley was sprawled on the floor, pushing up on his elbows and feeling around desperately on the floor, looking around wildly.

His eyes were terrified and blind, because the truth was, Riley_ couldn't_ see everything.

He couldn't see anything at all.

"Coming!"

As she moved back toward him, she thought she'd never felt so... so exhausted, so drained...

"Where are you? Thea-"

"Calm down, it's alright- I'll get your stick thing-"

Despite the ache in her head she made the effort to grab the staff that leant against the wall as quickly as she could. He remained where he was, looking pale in contrast to his usual faint tan, hair bearing the resemblance to a pile of straw.

Riley looked weak himself.

"Here you go- look, here's your staff, - can you get up? Do you need my help?"

Unsteadily, Riley leant on the surprisingly strong staff and pulled himself to his feet, breathing heavily.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't," he cut her off, looking to the left of her face. "Don't bother apologising."

"But you- you could've gotten hurt or something-!" Unfortunately her voice literally squeaked, raising too many octaves.

Laughing a quick, cold laugh, Riley clearly tried for some male bravado. "No way. I can handle myself."

"No you can't," Thea said as quietly as she could, taking a step backwards and shoving the hair out of her face. Her hand burned. "You... You can't see. That was so unfair-"

"Thea." Raising his hands, he moved to put them on her shoulders but missed and they fell through the air. Shrugging, he dropped them back by his sides and settled for putting his hands in his pockets. "I might be blind but I'm not completely sightless, you know. I _can_ see, sort of."

"How is that possible?" Her voice came out in a sharp demand, but she couldn't help it. The topic made her so confused... and frustrated, all at once.

Riley's voice sounded strong and normal again, back to his sarcastic self. "My _mother_ thought she was doing me a favour. When I was blinded when I arrived here, she tried to cure me, to give me sight, but she isn't a miracle worker. It went wrong." He blinked a couple of times and almost smiled, looking right into Thea's face, not at the air to her left. "Things got mixed up. No one understands it. Heck, I don't even understand what she did to me. I'm blind but I can see everything."

All of a sudden he sounded a lot like Matt, and Thea silently compared.

"Mostly, I'm just blind. Like, twenty-three hours out of a day, I can't see. No "ifs", no "buts", just blackness. But other times, I can see what's in front of me in my head." Tapping his temples for effect, he carried on. "If I want to, I can _try_ and see what's going on. Sometimes it works, if I get lucky. And sometimes..."

Brief hesitation.

"Sometimes it's a little more than that. I see what I don't want to and I can't stop it. I see what I shouldn't see – things that are happening in other places, things with people I don't know. It's involuntary. Can't control it. Can't stop it, can't start it. Well, technically I can, but I don't know how..."

"That's incredible," Thea admitted, though her voice didn't hide the fact that she wasn't sure whether to be amazed or disgusted.

"No it's not. It's stupid. I'd rather just not see at all. Lately I've-"

"Thea! _There_ you are! I wondered where you'd got to!"

Matt strolled into the amphitheatre with a grin on his face, Zeus treading obediently at his heels like a miniature pony: Riley scowled and muttered something unintelligible.

Whatever he was about to say died in his throat.

"What're you two doin-"

"I wasn't doing anything!" Thea snapped stupidly.

Raising both eyebrows, Matt said, "Don't shoot the messenger." Zeus spotted Riley and bounded toward him, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, before jumping all over him and barking excitedly.

"Hey, Z! We've you been, buddy?"

"I found him chewing up the strawberry field. Dude, you really shouldn't let your dog out on his own." Easy as the wind, Matt stepped up between the two of them, smiling, his hair flopping casually against his forehead. Today he was sporting a white t-shirt with the picture of a four leaf cover on the fron and black jeans he probably had to peel off at night – it could have been a fashion statement, if he hadn't had a sword swinging at his waist and bright green converse.

"He isn't a dog. He's a friend. You don't friends to follow you around everywhere- oh." A disappointed look crossed his face. "I don't."

Chuckling cheerfully, Matt held up his hands in a surrender. "Whatever, man. What're you doin' here, anyway?"

Always the charmer, Zeus turned to Thea and landed a sloppy one on her cheek. Moodily she rubbed off the dog cooties and crossed her arms, refusing to pet him: he simply beat his tail against the floor eagerly.

"I was just walking around, looking for Zeus, incidentally, when I came across Thea. I thought I should tell her she was gonna cause an injury before she caused one."

"What was she using?"

"Throwing spear."

"Ouch. Big mistake. Girls, they just don't get weapons, do they?"

"Not at all."

"I'm right here you know!" huffed Thea.

"What's your point?" asked Riley.

Matt grinned. "We know you're here. We're just commenting on your lack of weaponry knowledge as if you aren't here. See? It makes sense."

"Well then, what weapon should I be using?"

She ignored a rather loud, throaty noise from Riley.

"Who knows?" shrugged Matt easily. "I think you need a visit to the forge, myself."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because if anybody knows about weapons, it's Ant. He'll sort you out."

The wind picked up her hair as she shook her head defiantly. "No way. I'm not going to the forge."

-x-x-

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This needs some major editing, as you can tell, but I just don't have the time. The holidays are busy, and when I go back to school, it'll be even worse. Soooooo- is there anybody who feels like becoming my Beta?**

** *puppy eyes***


	9. It Was Him

**A.N: Okay. Serious writer's block with this one, so I've made it super short. (-Oh, and unfortunately, I don't own anything. Except my ideas!) – And special thanks to my new Beta whom improved this one for me! (:**

Chapter Nine: It was him.

Hera watched it all. She watched her two children adapting to their strange new lifestyle: she watched them build ties, build friendships with the people in the world around them-and, more importantly, with each other. Steadily, a bond was growing between them and Hera could not help to admire it. In such little time the twins had become exactly that...twins. They were not merely two strangers thrown together by genetics, but they were a brother and a sister, who simply had been missing each other for nearly seventeen years.

Hera watched it all and so she saw it all, too. She saw Thea's anger burst in a haze of swirling darkness: she saw her daughter attack the blind boy and then stop, shocked as to what she had done. The son of Zeus, whom Thea had already grown to trust, had taken her to the forge and helped her to acquire a decent weapon. It had been ready within hours, a wonderful sword, and the perfect balance for Thea's delicate hands. Being in the presence of Matthew Finley had taken Thea's mind off of the ordeal with Riley Hart, but when she had wandered back to cabin two that evening, guilt had dawned upon her hastily.

Jacob, of course, had found it fascinating: in his eyes, Thea had been acting purely in self-defence and what she had done was extraordinary. He hoped that he, too, would be able to _do_ something like that, but his thoughts had then been tainted green with envy, for Thea had chosen that moment to show him her new weapon.

Over the next two days, nothing else special occurred. They woke, they trained, they socialized on the Long Island Sound – and, although Riley was not present, Hera thought that if he had been Thea may have found the beach rather more inviting.

Hera was now so intoned to their lives that she need not create a Seer Cloud in order to know what they were doing: if she concentrated quite hard she could usually pick up a gist of what they were up to. It seemed easier to do this with Thea than Jacob, though the answer to that is quite simply that Thea is a young woman, and Hera is, after all, the patron and goddess of women.

But, alas, all was not well for the Queen of the Heavens.

She was frozen, paralysed outside the throne room, listening silently to the two voices within. The timid young satyr whom stood by the door did not say a word: he would not, for satyr's had high respect for Hera. She had control over land, and they admired her for that, in some ways.

Therefore, she had no interruptions – she listened, unable to move, to the voices within.

"If you can make sure he receives the gift by the time he wakes, I would appreciate that." That was Zeus.

"I'll have it there, make no mistake." That was Hermes.

A minor pause in which Hera held her breath, afraid of what she might hear.

"What am I actually delivering?"

"I don't think you need to know that."

"Oh, I think I do. I won't deliver anything that I don't know about, and if you'd rather somebody else do it..."

"No, no! Fine, it's a sword. A _delicate_ sword, so I trust you to deliver it safely, Hermes."

There was curiosity in Hermes' voice. "What kind of "delicate" are we discussing, here?"

"Lightning delicate. Only the best for my son."

Yet another silence. Hera heard the sound of shuffling footsteps: a package was being passed between them.

"He will turn seventeen tomorrow. You must make sure you deliver this directly to his cabin before he wakes up. If you don't, I won't be happy, Hermes."

"No need to worry. I'll be sure to get it there. Does anybody else know?-"

"-If you're talking about Hera, then, no, she doesn't. I'd like things to stay this way."

"Fair enough, my Lord."

"Indeed. How is the traveller's world, Hermes? Still thieving your way around the mortal world?"

"Of course. I actually-"

Hera turned abruptly on her heels and stalked out of the hall, into the gardens of Olympus and to the place where she knew Lysander would be waiting: beside the large fountain of herself. She loved how glorious he looked; all of his feathers fanned proudly, the eyes upon them watching her closely. He had the most miraculous size about him: his wonderful feathers were jade-green, while his body was a brilliant, dark sapphire colour, admirable to even Iris. She loved Lysander as if he was one of her own children.

_My Lady, It may not be what you think._

"Won't it be?" Her voice was raspy, she cleared her throat quickly, "There is no other explanation."

_You can't be sure! Maybe...Maybe it is for Ares, or Apollo, or-_

She sat on the edge of the fountain and heaved a terrible sigh. "Why bother pretending, my pet? It is true. It is him–it was her, his mother, all along..."

_Please, my Lady!_ Lysander cried, distressed, in her mind. _Do not torment yourself this way! It _could_ be some other-_

"Do not anger me, Lysander!" she snapped, tossing her long plait over her shoulder. "It's true. There is no denying it. I am not an idiotic woman; I can read between the lines. The night he left me for that woman, the night I decided it was time I bore a half-blood child of my own...Zeus, my _husband_," her lip curled around the word, "Sired a child. A boy. Matthew. The one my daughter has become so trustworthy of."

Around them, the air changed: it became chilled. The blue sky seemed to darken to grey: in the mortal world, the heavens were clouding over and rain began to fall.

_What must we do, my Lady? Do we tell Zeus? Do you stop the package being sent?_

For a moment she thought. She thought thoroughly, her mind moving at a fast, intelligent pace; scanning over everything she needed...and then she decided.

Standing tall, firm, she cast her eyes down to her faithful pet: her eyes did not shine with love and affection, but power and pride.

In a strong voice, she said, "He has offended me. I am tired of his ways. I have had enough. This has to stop, Lysander. The boy has made an enemy of me."

_What... What will you do, my Lady?_

"I will not allow the boy to become great," she said simply, turning to walk back to the house with her head high and back straight. "Tomorrow, the boy shall receive a gift. That gift may be great, but it will be nothing compared to what I shall pass on to the twins."

_The twins? I don't understand._ His feathers were now firmly tucked against his body.

"Oh, yes, Lysander. It is their birthday in three weeks – they will receive a gift, too. I have plenty in store, my pet. Zeus will see..."

They will all see, she thought firmly


	10. Symbolic

Chapter Ten: Symbolic

At six o'clock the next morning, there was a loud knock on the door of cabin number two. Awoken with a start Jacob tumbled out of bed and landed with a loud _*thump*_ on the floor, rubbing at his eyes and peering around the semi-dark room.

"Who the heck is that?"

"Nobody!" Thea called suspiciously from somewhere nearby. "You just go back to sleep. – Ah, hiya." Light pooled into the room as the door was pulled wide open. She ignored Jacob's loud groan of protest and stepped out into the early sunlight, glancing around to check that nobody else was about.

Her voice came out low and secretive. "Did you get it?"

Sasha, pulled out a long, thin package from behind her back and handing it to her and said, "Easy-peasy. You underestimate the connections I have. Four drachmas."

Thea reached into the pocket of her dressing gown that was white with black spots, much too big and an old favourite of hers and pulled out four shiny golden drachmas she had put in there earlier. "Sorry for the short notice-"

"No problem. Short notice is my speciality. Later."

"See you."

Closing the door, Thea took a relieved breath and looked down at the box in her hands, surprised that Sasha had actually managed to get it for her so quickly. Nonetheless, she was grateful...after all, it wasn't-

"What's that?"

"...A present."

"What kind of present?"

"A birthday present."

"What kind of-"

"What's with the third degree, Jake?"

Carefully she placed the package onto her bed and sat down beside it; Jacob, whom and flicked the light on and then scrambled eagerly beneath his duvet again, frowned at her for one long moment and asked, "Who's birthday is it?"

"Matt's. I only found out yesterday. I wouldn't have got him anything but he brought me the sword..."

Their eyes both trailed to the Greek-style weapon leaning against Thea's wardrobe. It was celestial bronze and balanced just right for her hands. Matt had brought it for her saying, "Consider it an early birthday present!", and so it was only right she got him one too. It had been Sasha she had turned to, typically knowing that Sasha's "outside connection" would be the only people able to get it to her.

The present was quite simple, a quill. An eagle-feather quill with a small bottle of black ink. Nothing spectacular, but Thea knew that Matt wrote home to his mortal family and friends pretty regularly so he may as well do it with a nice quill.

Plus...it was all she could think of getting him.

"Have you got a pen?"

"A what?"

"A pen. You know, what you write with. Have you?"

"Oh-oh, right, yeah."

After rummaging around in his bedside cabinet for a minute he pulled out a biro and threw it onto her pillow.

"Thanks..."

Writing quickly on the cardboard box she wrote, _Did you know the eagle is sacred to Zeus?_

Confused, Jacob watched out of the window as she randomly left, taking the box with her, only to drop it quietly on the doorstep of cabin one and then return.

"You're weird," he accused.

"Your hair's a mess," she told him. "Go back to bed."

Oddly enough, he did, and Thea dived once more into that pale blue book. An hour or so later they left for the dining pavilion and ate breakfast as they always did. When they returned, Matthew was waiting for them outside of their cabin, ready to thank Thea for her present. The three of them, though Jacob quite reluctantly, sat on the soft stretch of grass within the Olympian cabins for half an hour, in which time Matt retrieved his favourite present from inside of his cabin to show them. It was a Greek style sword sent from his father, strengthened by lightening so that it was indestructible and strong. Jacob, growing increasingly jealous, found an excuse to leave quite soon after that, which left Thea and Matt alone together for a few minutes...which expanded into several hours.

-x-x-

Thea watched Matt leave without moving, almost frowning, but not quite. Her dark, curly hair, so similar to the colour of chocolate, was tied at the back of her head and she pulled it down soundlessly, her eyes not blinking as she stared after the tall figure retreating into the distance. In her mind, she felt the odd urge to smile through all of her confusion, despite the anxious knot building in her chest and the flush of heat tingling against her face. Slowly, without meaning to do so, she reached up at touched the warm spot on her cheek and blinked once as he turned a corner and disappeared from view.

Around her the air suddenly felt very hot; a rush of claustrophobia washed over her and she took a deep breath, settling herself, knowing that she had never before felt claustrophobic in her life.

The sky was turning from pale to dark blue along the western horizon, she had been sitting outside the Olympian cabins all day without doing anything productive at all, and only now did she realize how hungry she was. They had missed lunch completely.

Almost in a robotic way Thea rose steadily to her feet and started walking toward the dining pavilion, arriving in a few minutes. Stepping inside she spotted the back of her brother's head hovering by the platters of chicken and pork.

Finally, Thea smiled.

"What're you grinning at?

"Nothing," she said in spite of herself, setting her full plate onto their table and taking seat. "Pepsi."

"Pepsi? You're _really_ in a good mood. What about your cranberry juice? You always have it."

"I thought I would be..." Sipping her drink, she thought for an appropriate word, "Adventurous."

"Jeeze, if this is you being adventurous then I'd love to see you drunk... You know, if you don't stop looking so high, people are going to think you've taken something."

"Sorry."

The pavilion was full of life, as usual. There had never yet been a day when Thea had sat down to eat without the sound of talk and laughter loud in her ears.

"Where's your friend?" Nodding toward the nearest table, which was empty in absence of the only resident, Jacob chomped down on his corn.

"He went to train with his new sword."

"Lucky," grunted Jacob into his goblet, "An _indestructible_ sword. That's so unfair. It won't break."

"Well that is what 'indestructible' means, Jake..."

Laughing sarcastically, Jacob rolled his eyes and Thea smiled, admiring in those few seconds the fact she had a brother, somebody she felt she could trust completely.

-x-x-

Early the next morning, both Thea and Jacob were awake and ready for their daily training regime to begin. Together they ate cereal, toast, and in Jacob's case, a large helping of pancakes, too, all the while avidly debating who would win in a fight between Batman and Spiderman.

"It's all about gadgets!" insisted Jacob. "He has the _batmobile_!"

"So? Spiderman has natural kickass superpowers. He could just webby up the wheels of that car thing and he's won the fight already."

"That is so not true."

"Yes it is!"

"Is not."

"Is too."

A voice from behind them said, "Are you seriously arguing over Batman and Spiderman?"

"Will you _tell_ her that Batman is obviously the winner?"

Matt gave Jacob an amused expression. The low morning light brought out the faint freckles on his nose. "I think you're both missing the point here. Have you forgotten about a little someone called 'Superman'? He's called 'super' for a reason, you know."

While Jacob stared at him in silence, trying to think of a quick counter argument, Matt turned his attention to Thea, whom had been stirring the dregs of her milk simply for something to do and avoid looking at him.

"So I wrote a letter to my mom last night with that quill you got me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I dripped ink all over the floor," he grinned, brushing his dark hair out of his face automatically and clearing his throat, "Will you be at the Sound tonight?"

"Sure," shrugged Jacob, picking the crust off of his toast and dumping it onto his plate. "We always come to the Sound. You know that."

Avoiding the temptation to kick her brother under the table, she replied, "Yeah, I think so."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Matt."

And then he was gone.

"What a douche." Starting to stand, Jacob chuckled to himself. "What kind of question was that?"

"Beats me..."

The topic was immediately dropped as Thea brought up the question of who would win in a fight between vampires and werewolves – the debate began once again, both of them believing they were right.

Reluctantly, Thea had to admit to Jacob that he was now a lot better than her at combat: she now found him to be a touch opponent instead of an equal one. They only fought against each other, so neither of them knew what he was like against other people, but she decided that, nonetheless, she had a lot to work on to beat him.

After this they went their separate ways. To the lava wall went Jacob, determined to not have his clothes singed, while Thea left for the stables and tried to ride a Pegasus again. This time showed improvement, she didn't fall off once and despite being uncomfortable, she found the experience rather enjoyable, though never flying higher than the roof of the Big House of out fear of injuries that might occur, if she fell.

It never hurt to be cautious.

Three hours later they had both trained enough for one day and retreated back to cabin two after a quick shower and even quicker dinner.

"I don't get why you're rushing around," Jacob told her in a clipped voice, sitting on his bed while Thea peered closely into a mirror.

Snapping at him, she said, "You're just pissed you couldn't have seconds," and began rummaging in a drawer beside her bed.

"I like my food. What can I say?"

"Does my hair look all right?" she asked, glancing back into the mirror. "Is it too much? Too little?"

Instead of wearing it down like usually, Thea had put her curly hair back into one long plait over her shoulder. Frowning, Jacob said, "You look...I don't know. A bit older."

"Is that good? Bad?"

"I don't know. Good."

"Am I too dressed up?"

"Thea, you're wearing ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. What d'you think?"

"They're skinny jeans, actually, and it's not a band t-shirt–it's just a white t-shirt with a picture of Paramore on the front."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes."

"Why're you so bothered 'bout how you look all of a sudden? You never usually care."

"Well, today's different."

"Is it because you're suddenly being all 'adventurous'?"

"You could say that, yes. Come on, quickly, before it gets too late."

"It's seven thirty!"

But Thea had already pulled him out of the cabin door and slammed it shut behind them, hoping desperately that she did look decent after all. It was lucky, she decided, that Jacob was so oblivious, else he would defiantly not approve...

"I still think Rex is better than Kong."

"Jacob, don't be ridiculous – Kong already defeated Rex, didn't he? I told you that twenty minutes ago-"

"But he's a dinosaur, for crying out loud! Of course he- oh, no."

"What? Did you realize I was right and you were wrong?"

"No...it's her."

Thea looked up in time to see Ellie Raymond walking ahead of them take seat among their usual acquaintances of the Sound, slipping easily into the conversation and laughing at something somebody said.

"I don't trust her," she said darkly."

"I think she's alright."

"Then why did you say 'oh no'?"

"Because I was with her yesterday and-"

"You were _what_?"

"-She was looking for Kyle so I offered to help her. Don't jump to conclusions, dude! But, yeah, when you were being all pally-pally with Mr. Lightening Sword I bumped into her and she couldn't find Kyle so I offered to help and ended up spending a while with her and she seems pretty cool, but..." Uncomfortably, he shifted. They were getting closer to the crowd on the Sound so they both lowered their voices.

"But? But what?"

"Nothing," he dismissed. Glancing at his sister, he saw she had a troubled look in her eyes. "S'up?"

"Why's he alone?"

"Who?"

"Riley."

Sure enough, Riley sat a little way away from the group, lying on the grass with his arms covering his eyes as usual, completely alone, without even Zeus keeping him company.

"Don't know. He's weird."

"He isn't weird; you just don't like him because he freaked you out with that whole 'blind' thing."

"Don't start defending him, that was the scariest thing ever!"

"Hey, guys!" beamed Kyle. "You all right?"

"Yeah, thanks," smiled Thea.

"I'm aces," nodded Jacob and they both slipped onto the grass beside Dave, the son of Dionysus and Lyra.

"Thea, your hair looks nice," Scarlett said suddenly with a fabulous smile. "It suites you. Why don't you wear it like that more often?"

"Oh-I think I will, thanks."

Scarlett, of course, looked lovely, and though Kyle had casually slipped his arm around her waist, nobody knew yet if they were 'a couple'. "We were just talking about Ellie," she explained, fiddling with her hair. "She's been here for a month now and still hasn't been claimed."

"That must be bad," Thea said to Ellie flatly, not meaning what she said. "Let's hope the gods notice you soon."

"You could be one of the Athena cabin," Lyra commented thoughtfully from beside her. "You're quite smart and you fit the usual description..."

"Hardly," snorted Ellie. "My hair's too light, my eyes have too much blue in them and I don't do well in school at all, even for a dyslexic-ADHD kid. I already thought of that- I've thought of everything."

"What 'bout a minor god?" asked Dave, whom was lying on his back and looking up at the sky with a can of Pepsi balancing on his chest. "Nomos, goddess of law? I can imagine you going all Judge Judy on someone."

"Nike?" offered Kyle. "Victory? You did win Capture the Flag."

_Lyssa? Spirit of rabies in animals?_ Thought Thea spitefully.

"You don't suppose it could be a titan?" thought Ellie, tapping her chin with a long finger. "You know, one who hasn't had a demigod here yet..."

"Probably not. I don't think there _are_ any titans left who haven't had a kid here. Hey, maybe you belong in my cabin, after all! I've seen that shifty look you get sometimes," he winked, to which most people laughed, with the exception of the twins who didn't see what was so amusing.

"What did I miss?"

Everybody turned to see Matt walking toward them casually, his expression pleasant and light.

"We were just talking about Ellie's godly parent!" Dave declared. "Take a seat, man, lemmie get you a Pepsi-or something stronger, if you like-"

Shaking his head, Matt cut him off. "I'm not staying."

"Okay." There was obvious disappointment in Dave's tone of voice, having being cheated out of the chance to conjure something he shouldn't conjure. "If you aren't staying' why're you here, man?"

"Why're you so interested?" he teased.

All eyes were on him.

It was then that Matt did something that sent whispers around camp for days. He took a step back, looked down at Thea and asked, half-smiling, "Coming?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Firstly, what did you think of this one? I thought it was abit risky, but, I wanna hear your opinions. And, secondly, I want your opinions: Spiderman or Batman? Werewolves or Vampires? Superman ftw? xD**

**Oh, and I go back to school on the 2****nd****, so I'm not sure what my updating will be like over those first few weeks. It's a new school, a big yeah, ect… So, I'm going to be trying my very best to do everything to update at my usual pace, but if I'm a bit slow for a while, do not fear, fabulous readers! This story will not be abandoned. I just love Riley too much to do that. **

**Speaking of which – I am not Rick Riordan and I do not own anything WITH THE EXCEPTION OF Riley, whom I own completely and therefore if you steal him, you will, indeed, feel my great wrath.**

**Grr.**

**Mahousive big "THANKYOU" to everybody who reads, reviews, subscribes or adds to alerts. You guys rock my socks. (Y)**


	11. Emotions

Chapter Eleven; Emotions.

There are many joys in this world. Some are free, such as the song of a bird or the laugh of a newborn child. Some are hard to find: true friendship and trust. Others are within your reach but simply come at a price. To find joy, whether it be the colour of the sky or finding a rare diamond among rough stones, is perhaps one of the greatest wonders of life. Many scarcely find joy whereas the more fortunate scarcely see a day without such a thing.

They say that the greatest joy in the world is to love, to feel, to care for somebody enough that you would risk your life for them. They say love is the most powerful thing in all of existence. Love, they say, is the greatest joy.

Only, is this joy not a curse? A plague that has swept through the ages swiftly, capturing all and holding them without mercy. To love is to bring pain; love causes loss, hurt, betrayal, deception... anger, wrath, envy, greed. Love drags such deadly weapons to you so quickly you find there is nothing you can do to stop them. You cannot, when associated with Love, avoid Pain. Pain finds you, it seeks you out and tears you limb from limb until all that remains is a shattered spirit, a deadened soul... and then Pain has won. All thanks to that wretched demon Love the sky caves in and you are sucked into empty black nothingness; The Sins stalk Love's shadow. They are always there, waiting, ready to capture, claim and crush.

They say that love is the greatest joy; they say that such a joy brings a curse of which you cannot escape.

But what if it's worth it all in the end? Forget the madness, the insanity, the hurt and the pain. What if the time that you are free to love without devastation is so great, so wonderful that it makes the pain worth suffering? If you can fight for love, does that mean it's worth fighting for?

Is love worth the curse that follows in its wake; is love worth it all?

-x-x-

"Interesting," said Scarlet, watching as Thea and Matthew walked away together, "Very interesting."

"I'll say," Dave agreed. "Is it just me or did he only come over to talk to her?"

"Looks like it."

"I feel used," he muttered.

Ellie, puckering her brow, stared after them. "Is that the son of Zeus?"

"Yeah, Matt Finley," Kyle nodded. "I suppose you've heard of him, then?"

"Interesting," Scarlet repeated, now with her eyes on Jacob.

He said, "What?"

"Nothing. So, any alliances open for Capture the Flag? We haven't got any yet and it's on Friday again."

"We will," offered Kyle.

Nodding, Lyra added, "I'll talk to my sister. She should be fine with it."

"I'll let Thea know. She won't mind."

"We Dionysus kiddie-widdies ain't picky. We're all yours."

"Awesome. We've got, like, four already!"

"I'll try not to kick your ass this week, Jacob, but I can't make you any promises."

"Don't get too confident, Ellie. You just got lucky last time. I've improved."

"So have I. What's your point? I'll blow you out of the game."

"Watch it man, that sounds like a threat," teased Kyle.

"Yeah," was all Jacob could say. There was a glint in Ellie's eye: something strange, like she knew something he didn't.

_I'll blow you out of the game._

"You know what? I just remembered I'm meant to be somewhere."

Abruptly he jumped to his feet and hastily started walking away.

"Where you have to be?" Ellie called after him.

"Anywhere you aren't," he whispered under his breath and broke into a run. He thought he caught a glimpse of two dark haired figures on the beach but ignored them completely, tired of trying to understand what was going on between Thea and Matt Finley.

Only did he realise what he was doing when he was inside his cabin, hands gripping the smooth handle of the Greek sword that was leaning so easily against the wall.

She'll kill me, he thought.

"But she doesn't have to know."

-x-x-

Ellie wondered if her father knew he was killing her.

Not literally, of course – she was as alive as she had ever been, if not more. Inside, however, things were a little different. Why wouldn't he claim her? Had she been a disappointment to him? Was he ashamed? Feeling like an idiot, she stumbled over a pothole in the ground and cursed loudly, despite nobody being around to hear. How long had she been sitting on that Sound for? A couple of hours, at least.

At no point had she thought it would be instant. Never. Unlike that Thea girl, she had always known waiting would be involved...but waiting for a month? What was the point in that?

All she wanted was for things to be confirmed. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. She wasn't one to not believe what her mother was saying, but wasn't something like this easily un-believable? It was so insane, so impossible, so not right that it was everything she wanted, and all that she needed was a simple confirmation... that she feared would never come.

He was the greatest: he was the Lord of-

"What the heck?" she whispered, narrowing her eyes on the figure in the combat ring. It was getting late and pretty soon it would be lights out. What was he doing, training like that at night?

Stepping in the shadows Ellie crept closer, watching Jacob attack the helpless dummy as if his life depended on it. There was nothing but pure concentration on his face, masking him and making him look like a completely different person. Between the humidity of the night and the heat of training he had abandoned his shirt and seemed to be using it to mop the sweat off of his face. Dirt had smudged across his chin and there was a smear of blood above one of his eyebrows; apparently, he had caused himself an injury.

Touching the dagger she kept hanging on a belt, Ellie stepped up to the fence of the combat range and slipped in side. Jacob was so focused on hacking the dummy to pieces that he didn't even notice her until she picked up his damp t-shirt and threw it at the back of his head.

"You're sweating like a pig."

There was a loud clatter as he swung his sword and let go, making it collide noisily with the dummy.

"You freak, don't do that!" barked Jacob, grabbing the t-shirt and rubbing it roughly across his face. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?"

"Don't you know it's rude to attack someone when they've got nothing to fight back with?" Shaking her head, she scoffed. "Please, Jacob. I think you can do better than chopping up fake people."

Now retrieving the sword he picked it up and anxiously checked it over, as if afraid it had gotten damaged. "Thea's busy."

"Right, let me guess, you only fight your sister?"

"I fought you, didn't I?"

"And lost."

Casting her a filthy look, Jacob shook his dark hair out of his eyes. "What do you want, Ellie? In case you haven't noticed I'm busy right now."

"Well I thought I'd lend you a hand. Be a good Samaritan. You know, all that jazz."

"Well I'm fine on my own so if you just go away I'll get back to what I was doing-"

"Oh, just cut the crap, Jake," she snapped shortly. "I'm offering to help you get better because you won't if you're only ever fighting Thea and a bunch of dummies. Take it or leave it, I've got other things I could be doing right now."

At first she thought he was going to say no: he frowned at her, his dark eyes unreadable, absent-mindedly rolling the sword hilt in his hands.

"All right then."

The dagger at her waist was removed and held out readily, glinting in the light of the full moon that peered shyly from behind the clouds. After one brief second of hesitation, they moved at once.

And it was just like the last time. The two of them were equal in skill and ability, but Ellie was faster and Jacob had the upper-hand in strength. Back and forth, back and forth they stepped, lunging and dodging and parrying for all it was worth. This time they wore no armour: one injury would be painful and real. Ellie fought to win, and Jacob fought to not let that happen.

"I thought you said you'd improved?" she taunted, ducking quickly from a blow that even she had to admit only narrowly missed. "From what I see, nothing's changed. If anything, you've gotten worse!"

"You're all talk," he accused, "and no action!"

"Unfortunately for you even my talk is better than your action!"

Ellie struck for his chest: he blocked it but in the same moment she hit him in the side of the face with the hilt of her sword hard enough that he cringed back. Seizing her opportunity she struck out her leg and tripped him up; he landed heavily on the floor. The sword he had been fighting with skid across the ground away from them.

"I win!" she declared triumphantly, standing over him and punching the air. "Ha, I did it, I bet you again!"

"Congratulations," he grumbled in return, crawling back to his feet. "You must be so pleased."

-x-x-

Never yet had Thea been accompanied on the beach. There they sat as pale blue faded to inky darkness, seeing the shadows of the sun cross the sky in a blend of peach, ochre and golden sunset, so beautiful, she thought, as the two of them watched the first of a thousand stars begin to shine. It had never occurred to her before just how incredible the sky was, and now that she knew, she could finally appreciate it.

Shortly it would be lights out but Thea wasn't thinking about the rules. She wasn't thinking of anything at all, really. Every now and again something would slide into her mind but she brushed it away impatiently, knowing that thinking too much might possibly ruin everything.

That was certainly not what she wanted. Though it was true that Thea, in that moment, was incredibly confused about what she did and did not want, it was clear in her mind that spoiling things would be something to regret.

Therefore Thea was simply enjoying herself, letting time pass without really noticing.

"It's sorted, then," said Matt conclusively. "Alliance made."

"It's an unbreakable alliance," she corrected. "You shook on it."

"True, true..."

Sitting on the dry sand of the beach, leaning back on their hands, Thea and Mat were simply talking, as they had been for the past few hours. For a change the beach had been empty all evening – a stroke of fortune. Most people were probably on the Sound or kicking back in their cabins. Didn't they realize how beautiful the night was?

"Do you think Jacob will be alright with it?"

"What?"

"Well..." Shifting, whether casually or uncomfortably Thea wasn't sure, Matt glanced at the sky and then back at the ocean stretching out endlessly before them. "He doesn't like me much. It's obvious."

"Don't be stupid, of course-"

"C'mon, Thee. No point pretending, is there? The guy's got something' against me. Do you think he'll be okay with the alliance?"

There was no point in lying. Jacob clearly did have some sort of grudge against Matt. He wasn't a very tactful person...he didn't hide it well.

"He should be okay. Plus, he shook on it. There's nothing he can do."

"Good point."

Flattening the sand at her feet, Thea wondered to herself exactly what it was that Jake had against Matt. Had he pissed him off somehow? The idea of Matt being rude or offensive was absurd, so what exactly had he done?

"Your hair looks nice tonight."

"What?" Her voice came out too quick and sharp.

Matt's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "I said your hair looks nice – not that it doesn't always look nice 'cause it does–I just meant–you know, that it looked, uh, extra-nice tonight?" Somehow he managed to frame it as a question with an apologetic expression.

Briefly Thea searched for a decent word. "Thanks."

"It's okay. Don't take it the wrong way. It was meant to be a compliment."

"I know. Thank you."

Relief brushed his face in a grin and he wiped it away quickly, clearing his throat and locking his eyes back on the sea. "You know, I'm surprised no one's here."

"I thought that, too," she said thoughtfully, tugging on her own plait. "Where do you think everyone is? Camp fire? It's usually really crowded here..."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean like that."

"Huh?"

His profile smiled quickly. "I thought someone would come up here to bug us or something."

"Why would they do that?" Thea frowned.

"Haven't you ever been on a date at camp before? Oh, right, course not, you haven't been here long... Sorry, I forget that sometimes..."

Did that mean they were 'on a date'?

"There's always someone trying to mess it up or "get the gossip"," he air-quoted, "so that they can go tell everyone they know. It sucks."

Did that mean he had been on a date with someone at camp before?

Wait – what was she thinking? Of course he had, she already knew that. Riley and Lyra told her all about how Matt liked to impress girls... Heck, he had actually been on a date with some girl called Tilly when they told her that.

Anxiety swept over here. Confusion, annoyance. Was she just another name to add to the list?

All of a sudden Thea felt very jealous.

"I suppose you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

To her surprise, he didn't sound offended or defensive. In response he merely shrugged. "I suppose. I've been on a few dates. Who told you anyway?"

"Riley."

"_Riley_? What the-"

"No–Riley!" she pointed.

For the first time that evening they were not alone. Walking toward them along the beach, using a long wooden staff to feel along the sand, was Riley. Splashing playfully nearby in the thin waves was Zeus, being a truly pointless guide dog but apparently having the time of his life in the process. It appeared that Riley had not noticed them: with one hand tucked into the pocket of his jeans he simply looked as if he was very deep in thought.

"Shit," mumbled Matt by her side, suddenly looking pale. "We should go."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, I-"

"Please."

"...Fine," she sighed. "It'll be lights out soon any-"

Cut off by a very loud bark, the two of them turned to see Zeus charging toward them like a small, wet, golden bear. He had seen them.

"Who's there?" called Riley, his voice seeming to echo over the vast space around them.

"Thea, come on, we need to-"

"Thea and Matt!" she called back before whispering, "It's only Riley. What's the big deal?"

"Doesn't Matter."

Zeus leapt up to Matt and nearly knocked him over, his tail whipping sand into the air as he barked crazily.

"What's going on?" insisted Riley when he reached them, holding his staff over his shoulder. "Who else is here?"

"No one," replied Thea while trying to dodge Zeus' wet paws on favourite t-shirt while scratching behind his ear. It was a wasted effort. "We haven't seen anyone here in ages."

"How long's that?"

"Not sure. Two, maybe three hours."

"What's up, Riley? Why are you out so late?"

"Z wanted a walk." His eyes cast downward to the exact spot where Zeus was sitting pleasantly, panting away, and then back up to Matt. There was something about them that wasn't right, and it wasn't just his opaque pupils. "You?"

"Hanging out. You know."

"Yeah, I do," he said shortly. Thea frowned.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"What do you care?" he snapped. "Last time I saw you attacked me."

"What?" asked Matt.

"_What_?" exclaimed Thea. "You attacked me!"

Oddly, Riley smiled. "Yeah, I did."

And Thea smiled back, but the colour of the sky seemed to have intensified over the past few minutes and she found it too hard to ignore. Any moment they could be at the mercy of the harpies, and that wasn't how Thea pictured she would die.

"I think I'm going to head back to cabin two-"

"I'll walk you," offered Matt, looking at her with a funny expression. "I live next door anyway. See you, bro."

Praying that the flush of colour in her cheeks wasn't visible in the darkness, Thea said goodbye to Riley and Zeus and was then was walked home for the first time in her life.

-x-x-

Ellie scowled at Jacob. Simply the tone of his voice contradicted the word 'nothing', never mind that pissed look on his face.

"You aren't offended, are you?"

"Offended?" he scoffed. "Never. I practically let you win."

"Oh, don't start that – admit it, I kicked your ass good-and-proper and you just can't handle it."

"I can, too!"

"No you can't. Oops, did I hurt your manly pride? I'm so sorry. Maybe I can lend you my makeup sometime to make up for it- ha, see what I did there? Makeup, make-up?"

"You're not funny!" he practically yelled at her, scrubbing his face with the damp t-shirt once more before throwing it aside in aggravation. "I bet you think it's hilarious that you beat me-"

"I do, actually."

"-well I don't! I'm trying so hard to train up and get as good as everyone else but I keep getting shown up by a _girl_, for God sake!"

"_'For gods sake'_, don't blaspheme."

"See what I mean? You always have to be right! You always have to win!" Face red, Jacob stared at Ellie in anger, breathing heavily. "I'm sick of it already!"

"Jeeze," Suddenly feeling very awkward, Ellie took the red band off of her wrist and pulled her hair up into a pony tail. "I really did hurt your manly pride. Sorry, Jake."

Crossing his arms, he said, "Humph," and stared pointedly at the floor.

"Look, I'm serious," she told him, shifting uncomfortably. "I won't go telling everyone about this. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Okay-" he began, but stopped, eyes beginning to bulge, staring at the spot above her head. "What the heck-?"

Trailing her eyes upward, Ellie was vaguely aware of hearing herself gasp, hearing a yell of triumph, for her eyes were locked on the symbol floating above her head which perished seconds later into a foggy grey mist.

"I've-Finally! I've been claimed! _Yes_!"

"Um, Ellie?"

Mid air-punched, she stopped to say, "What?"

"Whose symbol is a big blue ball?"

-x-x-

Finally, Thea asked the question that had bugged her the entire the entire time she and Matt had walked back to their cabins. "Why did you freak so bad when Riley turned up?"

"I didn't freak," defensively, he told her, leaning against the door. "I don't know. Wanted some privacy, I guess."

"Okay, I thought you were mad at him or something."

"Me? Nah, I'm the cool, calm, collected one. Riley's the hothead... You know, tonight was pretty cool. I've never sat around with someone and done nothing for so long and actually enjoyed myself."

"Clearly you don't get out very much," she said, half-laughing, not knowing what else to say.

"If you say so," he smiled. "All right, I'll leave you here before your brother kicks my ass for keeping you out so late."

"As good a fighter as Jake's going to be one day, I think you would have the upper hand."

"True. I have the indestructible sword. Plus, come on. He said vampires would win. Could he _be_ more wrong? Werewolves were _made_ to kick sparkly ass!"

Thea laughed. "Night, Matt."

"Night, Thea."

And then she was lying on her bed, face hot, hand pressed against her cheek, breathing silently so as not to wake her sleeping brother. Sleep was the last thing on her mind.

-x-x-

Matthew watched her close the door of her cabin. He took a few steps back and paused for a moment to fill his lungs with the cool night air before turning around to face the shadows.

"No need to hide. Come out, come out, wherever you are."

From the constant gloom hanging around the Hades cabin stepped a tall, dark figure, his face plastered with anger, a fierce creature growling at his side.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a speedy update - because I'm dying to put up the next chapter. The next chapter **_**is**_** a risky one. I wrote it originally just for my own enjoyment, but I liked it so much I wanted to put it up. Your feedback, as always, will really be appreciated. I can't tell you enough how much I love the fact that people actually read my stories... Y'all make writing about the twins worth it, just to know that people enjoy my work. I appreciate every single review I have, short or long, first chapter or last. I have to say that I actually appreciate when people give me CC (constructive criticism), because I think it really does help me learn. If you ever find a fault in my writing, never be afraid to let me know. Trust me, I'll love ya for it. **

**Woot-woot to all of you who voted Werewolves to win. I think exactly the same as good ol' Matt Finley. **

**Anybody have an idea about Ellie's father? I think it's pretty obvious now, but maybe not.**

**Eep, this is a big A.N. I didn't realize. Okay - thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, THANKYOU for reading, reviewing, subscribing, alerting and even reading this big heap of chitchat. I never finish my stories - I never get past the first chapter! - but thanks to all of you, I've kept going.**

**THANK YOU READERS!**

**Hahs**


	12. Trust

Chapter Twelve: Trust

Riley wondered if Thea knew how much he liked her. Not that he was complaining. It was better that she didn't know, now. Better for her, at least. Not necessarily for him, but that wasn't important. So what if he couldn't tell her? A little waiting never hurt anybody. Only, it looked like he would be waiting a hell of a lot longer now.

Matt was a jerk. Riley had always known he could be an idiot sometimes but he never realized just how much until that moment. Matt was supposed to be a friend, one of the only friends Riley had, and now he had done that. He could have seen it coming... Ever since the two of them had arrived at camp, Matt had been changing, becoming a different person – right from the word go. Being the son of Zeus had gone straight to his head. Heck, he thought he _was_ Zeus! The Matt he knew would never have done this to him. Friendship was too important: now everything had changed and it was more than clear that girls came first to Matt.

'Selfish'. That described him perfectly.

It honestly wasn't like Riley to act this way. Usually he wouldn't give a fuck what Matt did with girls, but this was hardly under usual circumstances. Everything was different. She was different. The entire situation was different, because Riley had seen her coming.

It was so rare when _it_ happened. So rare that he never even spoke of it. Only twice had it ever happened before and both times it had changed his life in completely different ways.

The first time it had brought Zeus to him.

Nobody would ever understand how much Zeus meant to Riley. After all, they thought, what use was a guide dog that left you on your own to go play by itself? It was no kind of guide dog, that's what, and that was exactly the point. Zeus was Riley's eyes. He saw life the way the Riley wanted to but couldn't. Ever since the accident, Riley had been a different person, but Zeus brought back the _old_ Riley, the one that died long ago. He chased life and didn't let it pass by. He ran for the sake of running; free and careless. Zeus was more loyal than any person could ever be–he would always come back, always be at his side, always be there to lift him up when he was down. He would always be Riley's eyes – Riley's spirit. They were a part of each other.

The second time Riley lost his father. That memory would always be there, raw and sensitive in the back of his mind, haunting him until the day he died. If he hadn't been wrapped up like a god damn mummy, if he hadn't been broken all over and incapable or movement, he could have done something, he could have saved him! Instead he had lay there in absolute silence for days, slipping in and out of consciousness, and waiting for the news to come. When it came all he could do was replay the scene in his mind, over and over, until it was clear enough to be a memory of his own. The sound of the school bus skidding on faulty breaks was fresh in his ears, loud and clear... but that time was long gone. He was a different person now. Older, stronger, wiser – a fighter, if you like the word. He had grieved, he had lived with the guilt and he had moved on from his father's death. To that day he hadn't told a soul about it.

The third time it happened had brought Thea to him. Two weeks before she had arrived he saw her, fresh and clear in his mind, a look of sad but interested curiosity on her face. She wore that look, that exact look, when he had told her in the amphitheatre about his strange sight. That had been his vision; telling her everything he never wanted to admit. And that was why he had known he had to stay away from her, but when you meet someone like that, it's hard to stay away. Whether it is intentional or not you find them, even if that's by accidentally blinding their brother or just sitting on the Long Island Sound.

Zeus sat as silently as he could. Riley reached out and stroked his head slowly, knowing how much Zeus hated sitting all quiet and well-behaved. But he did it, for Riley.

Theia was not the patron of gods, but she did, however, favour them. For thousands of years she had been fond of them, a bond had forged between the two.

Maybe that was why Zeus understood Riley so completely. Even though Riley didn't have to tell him exactly what to do, Zeus seemed to understand, and right now he knew to be as quiet as possible. His leash hung pointlessly at his side. At that moment they didn't need it.

Darkness swallowed him. It was so thick he could almost reach out and touch it, though not quite. There was the scent of burning wood lingering in the wind from dinner amongst pine from the forest and the grassy earth beneath their feet. As you might have expected, Riley relied on his remaining senses more than anybody else would. At that moment he was trying not to hear, trying not to listen to the shit a familiar voice was saying, but that was the problem with excellent hearing – you heard too much.

Then came the sound of what he had been waiting for, followed by a brief pause.

"No need to hide. Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Tensely he took three steps forward with Zeus growling quietly at his heels, knowing he was not standing in the light of the moon. Slowly he pulled the hood of his jacket off of his head and stared straight forward to, roughly, the space where he had heard Matt speak from.

"Who said anything about hiding?" he said irritably.

"Well when you lurk in the shadows listening to peoples conversations it pretty much looks like your hiding."

"Trust me, I was ignoring you as best I could."

"Sure, sure."

Beside him, Zeus changed his tone and whined, pushing his muzzle into his owner's hand. Zeus could feel the tension and he didn't like it. Stroking the dog with his thumb Riley restrained from clenching his fists, knowing that would only upset the hound further.

In the toneless voice of a stranger, Riley said, "You kissed her."

"Yeah, but only on the cheek. I'm not a man whore."

Oh, he could just imagine the smug look on Matt's face as he said it. Nothing could have frustrated him more.

"You took her on a date."

"Well done, Athena. Would you like or genius medal now or later?"

"Shut up," snarled Riley.

A low chuckle responded. "Chill, dude. Being locked up here at camp limited my options. I would have preferred to take her to see a movie."

"So you settled for a nice little romantic walk on the beach instead? You must have been so disappointed."

"You forgot about 'sunset'. It was a romantic walk on the beach at sunset. _So_ much more impressive."

Riley's lip curled as he took a step forward only to clench his teeth and stand still when Zeus whimpered beside him. From the sound of his voice, Matt was standing about three metres away: how much easier it would be to settle the situation like men.

"Why'd you do it?"

"Look, man, let's do this somewhere else-"

"Let's not. What, are you afraid she'll hear?"

"No."

"Then answer me. Why'd you do it?"

He could hear Matt taking an annoyed breath. "The same reason everyone goes on a date."

"I think you misunderstood the question. Why did you do it, Matt?"

Matt's tone was clearly trying to be friendly but the cracks were starting to show. "I can ask out who I want. You can't control that, Riley. It's a free country."

"You just don't get it, do you? You know I was going to ask her out–you _told _me to ask her out, and then you go and do it before I can, for gods sake!"

"I was being a good friend, Riley. Obviously I was going to tell you to go for it."

"But a good friend doesn't tell me to go out with her and then take her yourself, prick!"

"All's fair in love and war."

"_All's fair in love and war_?"

In his minds eye, Riley could image Matt stand across him almost lazily, his arms folded and a bored look on his face. It was enough to seriously piss Riley off.

"Look, man," Matt said into the silence. "Maybe it was a little inconsiderate-"

"You don't say!"

"-but I think you should just get over it, dude. I mean, it was obvious something was going to happen with Thee and me eventually."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"You know. The only daughter of Hera... the only son of Zeus at camp... both the same age, we get along well...c'mon, admit it. It's just genetics."

"Genetics? Are you kidding me, Finley? Genetics–that's got nothing to do with it! Don't you think I'd be able to see if everything was down to genetics, huh? Genetics has nothing to do with any of this and if that's all you're basing this on-"

"Why do you even like her?"

Riley stopped mid-sentence and frowned. He was tense and frustrated, in no mood for Matt's little mind games. Truthfully he didn't even know what had made him come talk to Matt in the first place; he was just so annoyed, so pissed...

"What?"

Sounding annoyed and bored, like he had better things to be doing, Matt said, "Why do you like her? You just act like a jerk whenever she's around. Didn't you attack her, Riley? From what I hear you seriously freaked her out-"

"It wasn't like that!" hissed Riley. "You make it sound like I tried to kill her! She's the one who attacked me!"

"Just face it, dude, she gets along with me better than you else it would be you out with her tonight. Get over her, man."

"You're just going to play her, we both know that, you can't stick to one girl for five minutes! All you'll do is upset her."

"What, and you think you could do any better, do you?"

His chest inflated. "So what if I do?"

"I hate to sound like a jerk but you can't see. How do you expect to treat her right?"

They both knew that wasn't an offence – it was literally a question. No bitterness, no frustration; pure words seeking an answer they both wanted to hear.

"I see her!" he barked at him, ignoring the cold chill in the air around and shoving his hair out of his eyes. "You know that! Everything's clearer when she's there. I see her more than anyone so don't throw that back in my face."

He could hear Matt breathing heavily, getting mad, sounding strained but quiet. More than ever Riley wanted to see, to look him square in the eyes and show him how mad he was, or at least punch him in the jaw. One or the other. The option was there to get him the way he had "attacked" Thea, but what was the point in wasting energy on someone like that? Punching was different. It took hardly any effort, but doing that... it was a different story.

"Riley, I'm not going to do what you want. You don't control her life."

"No, I don't," he snarled, "but you clearly think you do. You always go on about how I should trust you more because you're my friend–well I confined in you and look where it gets me."

"I'm going to go on another date with her again, so long as she wants to. Sorry, but this is just the kind of thing I can't miss out on. Deal with it. All's fair in love and war."

"Ha, all right. Your words, not mine."

Saying nothing more Riley turned on his heels, reaching out a hand to which Zeus picked up his leash and dropped it into his hand, walking. Riley did not look back; he had nothing to see.

There aren't many things in the world that can make him feel confused, really confused, but Thea Harman was clearly one of them. Never would he have thought a _girl_ would affect him so badly, making him bitter and cold even when he was feeling better than ever. Weren't you supposed to be happy when things like this happened? Wasn't it supposed to be all sunshine, rainbows and bird song? All he felt was confusion, and it wasn't a feeling he liked at all.

Maybe if he had kept his stupid mouth shut, none of this would have happened. If he hadn't told Matt he liked her then he wouldn't feel so angry and betrayed. Sure, Matt would have still asked her out and none of _that_ would have been different... why, oh why, had he been such an idiot and told the truth?

_"Oh, no, I don't like her. She's just a friend, I guess."_

Seriously, how hard was that? Not very. So why had he been an idiot and admitted it?

_"Yeah, I like her. I'd ask her out but there's no point." _

_"So you do like her? I knew it! She's pretty cool. Ask her out."_

_"No."_

_"Go on."_

_"No."_

_"Do it, man."_

_"Shut up."_

_"You might as well. She could always say yes. It's worth a shot."_

_"I suppose. I'll think about it. Maybe in a week or something." _

_"Awesome."_

Idiot! Idiot! If he hadn't said any of that, life would be 'normal' and they wouldn't have just had that conversation.

Now things were going to be a little different.

It was as if he only just realised how much he actually liked her, despite ruefully admitting it to himself days ago. The idea of meeting some random girl and fighting over her with Matt would have made him laugh months ago.

Thea was different, though. As used as that line may be, (and Riley had _never_ thought that he would be one to use it), it was shamefully true. There was something about her that he liked, a respect for her, if you will, that meant she wouldn't take shit from just anyone. A wimpy girl would never appeal to Riley – who wanted to be with someone who lived like a door mat? She was just...

She was just Thea, and he wondered if she knew how much he liked her.


	13. Inner Monologue

Chapter Thirteen; Inner Monologue

It was dangerous.

It was unpredictable.

It was against the rules.

It was everything that shouldn't be.

And yet, there it was.

Oh, yes. Right there. A pretty little picture.

She looked exactly like him.

Those same eyes, neither grey nor blue, but something in between.

That same blonde hair – a mixture of different tones, worn wavy and loose.

The same posture: proud, tall.

Important. As if...

As if she'd known all along.

Oh, yes, she'd known. Of course she had.

Her god-forsaken mother would be some rich bitch.

Some cow who thought she was better than everybody else.

Well, she was wrong.

And her precious little daughter wasn't going to get any special treatment.

Oh, no, definitely not.

Ha-ha.

Did they think it would be that _easy_?

Did they really think it would even be _aloud_?

Ha-ha.

No.

They weren't going to get away with what they had done.

Not even for a minute.

No way. Not if she could help it.

She was going to make them pay.

Make them _prove_ that their spoiled little girl even deserved to live.

Because, why should she?

Everybody else had been forced to live by rules.

Who gave _him_ a right to break them?

Just because of who _he_ was.

Just because of what _he_ had created.

Just because _he_ was superior.

None of that gave him the right to do this.

Nothing did!

Because it was dangerous.

It was unpredictable.

It was against the rules.

It was everything that shouldn't be...

_And yet, there it was._

In the mirror stood a woman. Now, you must understand that she was not a bad woman: on the contrary, she was a very good woman, with a very loving heart. Sometimes, however, her heart controlled her, and she did not control her heart. These were the times when bad things happened.

You see, she cared very much about her family. More than anybody could imagine. All she wanted was for them to be happy, but people didn't always understand that. They thought she was cruel, mean- jealous and cold. Too proud for her own good, they would say.

But her intentions were always pure, and always the same- she simply wanted her loved ones to be happy, to be free of pain.

Pain. What a funny little word that was.

"It's for the good of the family," she told herself in a stiff voice for the hundredth time. "We're better off without her."

A nagging voice in the back of her mind protested. _Imagine what he would say. Don't you care about him? Your own flesh and blood, and you are about to break his heart._

Her dark hair quivered as she shook her head defiantly. "No," she told herself. "The child is an abomination. A hazard. She must be eliminated before any true damage can be caused. To Jacob. To anybody."

_But will she even cause any damage? Who is to say that the child will not be a gift, something we have been waiting for all of this time?_

"She is too powerful, and I won't risk the lives of my family to test her kindness."

_Please, you must think about this before-_

"Silence, creature!"

Her voice came out as a sudden yell, and she turned sharply to glare at the glimmering sapphire peacock in the corner of the room, her breath suddenly so much deeper and heavier than before. Something in her eyes shined: a madness that hadn't been seen for centuries.

"I am right!" declared Hera, holding out a shining golden drachma and tossing it into the fountain that stood tall beside her mirror, sending the water into a sparkling rainbow of colours.

Venom seethed from her words.

"Show me Uranus!"


	14. Expectations

Chapter Fourteen: Expectations

It was funny how much one little piece of information could change the way the world looked at you. One moment you could be a normal person, living your life as a normal person does, and the next, everybody knows who you are. Everybody knows your face, everybody knows your name.

Well, that was what it seemed had happened to her. Two days ago she had been just another of the unclaimed demigods, another quiet mystery people would ponder for a moment before moving onto the next. Just another face in the crowd... and now she was the face the crowd wanted to see.

Popularity, thought Jacob, was a funny thing at Camp Half Blood.

His fork stabbed into his jacket potato and scraped along the plate: he cringed and pushed it away, turning to his fizzy cola and drinking it all in three gulps. The table was large and lonely: Thea hadn't turned up for dinner, leaving him to eat alone.

Just like Ellie Raymond was eating alone.

Her table was empty aside from herself and positioned directly in his line of sight across the dining pavilion, beside the unoccupied table that belonged to the goddess Hestia.

Jacob didn't think she looked any different than she ever had: her hair was still long and wavy, framing her face in multi tones of blonde: her eyes were still neither grey nor blue but something in-between, (he had never been close enough to find out which): her hands still had a strange femininity about them that made her look surprisingly elegant for a girl who had superior sword fighting skills... but now, the population of Camp Half Blood's main focus was her. Even Chiron, in full centaur form sitting at the head table, had glanced at her several times before looking to his left to Mr. D's empty seat, looking quite concerned.

Whether or not Ellie even noticed any of this, Jacob didn't have a clue. Black earphones hung from her ears and her black vans tapped against the floor to a fast beat, with her lips moving inconspicuously along with the words.

Ellie looked up unexpectedly: Jacob looked down abruptly.

Damn it.

Why was he so afraid of her?

Stabbing yet again at his unwanted dinner, Jacob scowled until the heat flooded out of his face.

She was the same person. She was the same person, wasn't she? She couldn't have become some kind of horrible, popular person that wouldn't dream of talking to him in the space of two days, right?

Right?

Something dared him to look at her once again, only to see that she was now back to her fries, oblivious to the face he was sat in a state of utter confusion, feeling alone, afraid and ashamed.

But if anybody asked, he just felt tired.

In the space of a minute he had disposed of his plate and left the pavilion without the nerve to glance back, sword swinging lightly at his belt – the one his sister had forbidden him from using.

The sound of his footfalls echoed against the dirt path, but it wasn't enough to drown out the sound of his own thoughts. He genuinely wanted for his own mind to shut up, for once, and to stop thinking, but of course, his mind rudely objected.

For two days, Camp Half Blood had been buzzing with the news of Ellie Raymond's godly parent. It was the sentence upon every tongue, the thought that plagued them all, and Jacob was sick of it.

Since the moment she had been claimed, Jacob hadn't had a chance to say two words to Ellie.

He didn't like that. Truth be told, he didn't like that at all.

The hill of which he was heading to loomed before him. It wasn't impressively high, but it was remote on the edge of camp, bordered by the forest, and had a nice view of the ocean, with one very large tree standing upon its peak. It seemed to be nothing special, though it radiated a tranquillity, a sense of peace, which was what he wanted.

Sometimes what Jacob needed was to battle away his problems with a sword and a combat dummy.

But sometimes, just sometimes, he needed to loose himself in the calm of the evening and just watch the world go by.

Once upon the hill, he leant against the handsome tree and folded his arms, staring out at the endless ocean that lay ahead. Thoughts of home drifted into his mind, thoughts of his sister, thoughts of the gods, and thoughts of Ellie, too.

It wasn't stalking.

It wasn't stalking

It wasn't stalking!

So why did Ellie find herself ducking behind trees and slipping into the shadows in an effort not to be seen? Wasn't that the sort of thing a stalker would do?

Technically she wasn't following him, but she was walking alongside him, and he just appeared to have "forgotten"... (Actually, he just didn't know it yet, but she would let him know soon.) She had ever intention of talking to him and not just trailing after him to wherever he was leading her. Ellie was just biding herself time – biding herself courage.

At least her intentions were pure. Sort of.

Jacob, walking (unknowingly) before her, turned slightly to the left and began making his way up a small hill. His hair gleamed beneath the low evening light; a rich colour of brown that she knew matched his eyes.

Oh, she wanted to talk to him.

Earlier, in the dining pavilion, he had looked at her once, and though it had only been for a brief second, it had brought Ellie to a final decision.

Now, Ellie didn't attempt to understand people and she certainly didn't attempt to understand Jacob, but she'd caught him looking at her... and so, even if it was just for one moment she had crossed his mind... Her face had been in his thoughts for one fraction of a second, and Ellie had realized that just wasn't enough for her.

And so she had made up her mind.

Apprehension was working through, making her heart beat faster and her fingers tingle. Why was it that now she had what she'd always waited for, it seemed that she didn't want it that much, after all? That it seemed she wanted other things, instead?...

No, she couldn't think that. She'd waiting for too long for the world to know who she was, she couldn't just wish it all away, even though she couldn't help but think that waiting a couple of days longer wouldn't have caused any harm.

Argh! Why did life suddenly seem so complicated?

The air was cold. As Jacob came to a standstill and leant against a tree, Ellie took a deep breath and began walking toward him without slinking in the shadows, each step seeming to grow heavier than the next. Her foot cracked against an abandoned twig on the ground and Jacob jumped, turning around with his hand resting against the hilt of his sword.

"Only me," she told him with her hands held up in a surrender. "Don't worry; I'm not planning on killing you today."

Crossing his arms and leaning against the tree again, he let out a humourless, "ha-ha", and Ellie stepped up beside him warily with anxious thoughts battling through her mind.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jacob asked quietly after quite some time.

"Sure," she shrugged."

"What's your real name?"

It took a moment for her to reply; it was the type of thing she usually didn't tell people. "Eliza-Mae Raymond."

"Thank you," he said, round eyes moving back to the landscape before them. "You know, it's kinda beautiful up here."

For a moment, the air seemed warmer.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It is."

Riley Hart, lying on his back, shook his head and covered his face with his arms. It felt good to cover his eyes like that – felt good to have a reason to be submerged into the constant state of darkness that had coated his world for the past four years. In a way, it almost made him feel 'normal', if there was such a thing.

One of the funny things about being blind was that, in his head, he could still picture everything as clearly as he could when he had sight. It was ironic; he hated the torment of remembering how wonderful the world appeared without actually being able to see it.

Not that it really mattered. The world was an ugly fucking place – it just happened to have some beautiful people in it.

"You've got to be kidding," came Thea's voice, sitting not too far on his left.

"Naw, it's the complete truth," replied Matthew Finley, rippling with a smug superiority he didn't deserve. "That's exactly what happened."

"So? What did you say?"

"I said, 'Sir, at least the monkey knew what he was doing, which is more than I can say for you'!"

_Lie._

"No way! I don't believe you."

"It's the truth!" _Lie_. "Ain't it the truth, Riley?"

Enthusiastic as Artemis at a speed dating event, Riley grumbled, "Whatever you say."

With a laugh, Thea exclaimed, "That's crazy! You've been in some weird situations."

"Tell me about it!" Matt sighed dramatically. "It's just the life I live..."

The image of Matt's arrogant expression crawled into Riley's mind, as clear as the night was dark. Infuriating images like that had a tendency to pester Riley...

Just put up with it, he told himself. The jerk'll be gone soon.

Unbeknown to Thea, Matt was leaving soon to hunt down a birthday present for her, which was in two days – or so, that's what Riley had heard on the grapevine. Matt wouldn't have trusted him with that information anymore. So, Riley thought it was worth suffering that arrogant presence for a little while, if it meant he would be alone with Thea afterwards.

Jeeze. She really had an effect on people, and she didn't even have a clue.

"Thea, have you seen your brother?" called a voice easily recognisable as Scarlet. "Kyle's looking for him..."

"He's probably in the cabin," she replied back, before sighing. Riley heard the sweep of her hair being brushed out of her face. "Something's up with Jake, but he won't freaking talk to me about it."

"Maybe he's on his man period."

"Ha-ha, Riley, that's hilarious."

"I was being serious..."

"No. I don't know what it is. I need to talk to him..."

"He'll be fine, give the guy some chill time," Matt assured her. "Anyway, I gotta go-"

"Where are you going?"

"I've got some stuff to do. Family stuff. Yaknow. I'll catch ya later, Thea."

Riley smirked behind his arms at his lack of a farewell as the muffled sounds of footsteps faded away.

After a minute, Thea asked, "Where's Zeus?"

"No idea," he confessed. "Off harassing somebody, probably."

"Doesn't it bother you when he just disappears like that?"

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, Riley faced the direction of his voice and raised his eyebrows. "Why would it bother me? He's a free creature. I'm not gonna chain him up like some slave. When I need him, he'll come to me."

With a pause that he took as hesitation, Thea commented, "I like the way you think. The way you look at things. I bet you have an interesting mind."

"S'not so interesting when you're inside it. There's not much to see. You'd probably get bored."

"I'd love to see what you see. Oh!-" she added quickly, "I didn't mean it like that, I meant-"

"Well, do you want me to show you?" he offered.

There was a moment of silence. "Can you do that?"

"I can show you anything, remember?"

Of course she would remember the time he introduced her to his ability of changing what people saw. It was the same day that she'd attacked him with a strength she didn't even know she had...

Riley smiled at the memory.

"Can you show me?"

"If you want to." Now standing, he held out his hand. "Up you get."

Her hand took his and after a second she stood; using her arm as a guide, he stood behind her and placed his hands over her eyes, concentrating on what he saw.

A small "oh" broke the quiet. Pulling his hands away and tucking them safely inside the pockets of his jeans, he took a step back and waiting, sharing with her the empty nothingness that dressed his world.

The air was moving, and he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just- just moving a bit. Seeing what it's like..." Her footsteps showed that she'd almost stumbled. "This is so-"

Before she could finish, a burst of light burned into their minds and Thea let out a shrill cry. The imagine of her standing exactly where she was pierced them both, hot, acidic and venomous, stinging in contrast to the complete and utter nothing that had been there before.

She was standing with her feet slightly apart, half turned towards him, both arms outstretched, wearing a pair of torn jeans, Converse, and a band tee that he didn't recognise. Her hair was pulled into a chocolate plait over one shoulder, and her matching eyes were wide and timid.

And then all of a sudden she was gone, nothing but nothing remained and Riley had cut off the connection, sitting back on the grass with his head in his hands.

Ouch, he thought.

Thea landed heavily by his side, her voice shaking slightly. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't. Sometimes that happens." _Annoyingly, it happens more when you're around..._

"How is that possible? That actually hurt. Like, physically made my head hurt. On the inside. And the outside."

"You're just not used to it."

"Jeeze," she breathed, apparently calmer now. "I thought there would be something... I don't know. That sounds stupid, but, I thought there'd be – I don't know – blackness. Anything. But there was just nothing. Just nothing..."

"Yep."

"And then all of a sudden there was me."

"Yeah. And then there was you."

Tossing his hair to the left and away from his eyes, Riley silently pictured what he'd just seen in his mind, remembering the fear in her eyes.

A part of him wondered why she'd changed the way she wore her hair, now tied over one shoulder instead of loose, curly and free...

"Riley," she asked curiously, "what's it like when that happens? When you see?"

Riley Hart didn't lie, but sometimes, he didn't tell the truth. "It's annoying as heck," he told her."

In her voice he could hear her smiling. "I thought you might say that."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jacob asked quietly.

Almost an hour had passed, and the two of them had avoided this subject carefully, but Jacob's impatient questions were dying to be answered and he couldn't wait any longer.

With a gentle expression, Ellie looked down at the grass beneath her and began pulling at stray strands, her fair hair falling like a curtain against her face.

"Cause you knew, didn't you? You already knew who he was..."

"Yeah," she said softly. "My mother told me when she brought me here."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't... I don't really know."

"I wouldn't have told anyone, ya know." Being cautious to avoid her eyes, Jacob pulled up his knees and rested his arms against them, focusing hard on the ground. "I'm good at keeping secrets. I know you don't believe that, but I am."

"It wasn't that," she told him quickly. "I just thought that... I dunno. That you wouldn't wanna know. That you'd think I'm a liar or something."

"I'd never think you're a liar."

The touch of her eyes landed slowly upon him. Flicking back his hair, Jacob let the pause ring out until she finally spoke.

"I wasn't complete sure I believed it myself. I needed a confirmation, yaknow? It's pretty much the same chances of winning the lottery, to be the daughter of-"

"You haven't spoken to me ever since," Jacob interrupted clumsily. "Did you even notice? You haven't spoken to me once since you've been claimed. You've been talking to everybody else, all those other people, but not me."

Looking up, he caught her smiling. "Well, I came to find you now, didn't I? I didn't want to talk to half of those people. They're dull and they wouldn't have wasted two minutes on me before they knew who I was."

"Why do you talk to them, then?"

"I was being polite."

"Well why don't you just tell them where to shove it?"

"Because I've got to try and set a good example." Sighing, Ellie reached up and rubbed a hand against her forehead, as if it hurt. "I can't let him down, Jake. I've got to try and act like I'm supposed to act..."

"What?" he demanded. "So you're just going to change because of who your dad is and act like someone you're not? Just because your father's Lord of the-"

"We _all_ have to change a little when we get here. We _all_ have to try to honour our godly parent. Is it my fault that mine just happens to be really important? I just need to make him proud."

"He'll be proud of you for being who you are, not who you're not!"

"Damn it, Jacob, you don't understand."

"Don't understand?" he snarled. "My mom is the freaking Queen of _girls_ and _babies _and _marriage_, and I've got to somehow make her proud?"

"Well do you know that your mother is the patron of heirs?" she snapped heatedly. "You know, princes and all that? Did you know that she's one of the strongest women – if not, _the_ strongest woman – in the entire history of the world? Do you even know half of the crap your mother's been through? You don't appreciate just how lucky you are, Jacob!"

He tried to interrupt, but Ellie had jumped to her feet, now angrily pacing back and forth. The air around them seemed to crackle with electricity.

"All my freaking life I've had this stupid expectation to live up to, and when I came here I thought, 'great, I can finally relax!', and I thought that when people knew who my father was they'd accept me for what I'm like, but, no, I was wrong. They don't accept me – they accept him, and they expect me to be just like him. They expect me to be great and powerful and smart and strong and a load of other crap that I'm not. Do you have any idea what that's like? No, of course you don't!"

Taking hold of her arms to make her stand still, Jacob said, "You shouldn't let it get to you like this, Ellie. You shouldn't let anything get to you, you're better than that. Who gives a damn what people expect of you? You can only be yourself and you can do that better than anyone."

"But I'm not _right_!" she cried. "I shouldn't be who I am! I should be somebody everybody listens to and who wins all the fights and nobody dares to say a word against! That's who I should be!"

Pushing his hands away, she turned her back to him and stalked toward the large tree, breathing heavily.

"It's been two damn days and I'm already sick of it. I thought this was what I wanted but I'm starting to think I was wrong because I can't even be myself anymore! It's not enough, damnit, and I hate that, I hate that, I fucking hate that, Jake!"

Her hands punched against the trunk again and again: Jacob ran and grabbed her fists. She shook as he wrapped his arms around her and told her quietly to calm down. Drops of warmth leaked onto his shoulder as small tears escaped her stormy eyes; they stood there for a little while, him just holding her until she didn't shake any longer, which was when he pulled away and brushed the dampness from her cheeks.

There wasn't a lot, only the remains of perhaps three or four tears, but they came form a girl who he'd never thought he would see cry.

"Ellie," he told her gently, his hands resting on her shoulders, "who you are is enough and you're stupid to think that it's not. You can't be somebody you're not, okay? So don't try to be. People are always gonna judge you but why do you even give a crap? They're complete jerks if they think something's wrong with you. You are important because of who your dad is, but you're important because of who you are aswell. The people that care about your dad are obviously the people who don't care about you, so you don't need to waste your time worrying about them. Jeeze, don't let this shit get to you. Honestly. It's crap."

For a moment, he worried she might start crying again – instead, she smiled a genuine smile that made her seem so much stronger. "And what'll you do if I let it? Kick my ass?"

Smiling, too, he said, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

"Oh, I'm scared."

They both turned to walk slowly back to the heart of camp, leaving the peaceful hill and the darkening night sky behind them.

"It's just so hard, yaknow?" sighed Ellie after a while. "Being the only daughter of Uranus."

Jacob nodded and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I know."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **

***Lets out a big breath that I've been holding since August***

** Chapter Fourteen, Expectations, has finally been uploaded. Jesus **

**So... What did you think?**

**This chapter contained a hell of a lot of risks I've been contemplating since I started writing this entire fanfic. And I genuinely, more than ever, want to know what you think of this. It's been such an incredible long time since I've written for this – (I don't count the Inner Monologue, because that's, you know, a monologue) – and I don't know if I've done it any justice, or if I've failed this completely.**

** When I was writing this fanfic non-stop (literally), I had every single chapter mapped out on paper, and I had it planned out right to the finale – and to the sequel. (You betcha I was planning one of those badboys!) But, sadly, I HAVE LOST ALL OF MY PAPERWORK, and the truth is I don't remember all of what I'd planned. I remember the important aspects, but the minor details I can't remember, and we all know how important they are – so if you find any flaws or mistakes, PLEASE let me know, and I'll work on it literally asap. **

** One thing I know is that I have given you some stuff to think about in this chapter.**

** Uranus! Did nobody guess it? **

** What do you think of the whole thing between (my favourite guy) Riley/Thea? **

** And obviously, the main focus of this entire chapter – Jacob/Ellie? **

** I really, really, REALLY want to know what you guys think of this chapter – absolutely huge amounts... and I hate when people ask for reviews and whatnot... but I'd love it with my whole heart if you could let me know what you think of this in a review/message, and I promise I'm going to reply to EVERY single review/message I get for this, because I've realised how much I love my readers, how much I appreciate them, and how much I couldn't do this without them – without you.**

** Christ, I thought I'd never keep this going – there was even a time when I considered deleting it all together... but you know what made me post this today? You know what kept me going? **

** You.**

** Yep. Lovely and cheesy, right? But it's actually true. Every time I got an email saying somebody had added it to alerts or favourites, especially when it said I'd had a review, it gave me a little piece of hope that people still liked what they read, still liked my story, still wanted to read it.**

** And I actually don't think I would've posted this without the reviews I've continued to receive, even though I haven't properly updated a chapter since August.**

** That's seven freaking months that I've basically abandoned this story, and you're sitting here right now after all of this time, reading this. Jesus Christ, I love you. All of you. A hell of a lot.**

** I actually appreciate it so much. **

** I remember now how much I love you, and also, I remember how much I love this story. I remember how in love I was with Riley – he is my absolute babe – and how much I loved Ellie, too. I remember it all, and I promise you that I'm going to really work on getting this fanfic back to its original state. **

** I have 111 reviews, and this entire fanfic only has fourteen chapters. That means so much to me I cannot explain. It's had over twelve thousand hits, and I appreciate that SO SO SO SO SO much!**

** All I can say is, I LOVE YOU, ALL OF YOU, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS EVER READ/REVIEWED/ADDED TO ALERTS/FAVORITES/MESSAGED/RECOMMENDED... All of that. **_**I LOVE YOU HUGE HUGE HUGE AMOUNTS.**_

** Thank you for reading. I would really love for you to review or message me what you think, and I promise you'll get a reply. **

** Because, guess what?**

** BORN FOR JEALOUSY IS BACK, BABY.**

** Sincerely – Hahs, Riley, Thea, Jacob, Ellie, Matt & the whole BFJ gang. :')**

_**SPECIAL THANKS TO THE 56 PEOPLE WHO ADDED TO ALERTS, THE 55 PEOPLE WHO ADDED TO FAVORITES, THE 1 COMMUNITY, THE 12, 706 VIEWS, THE 111 REVIEWS... A LIST WILL BE ADDED SHORTLY. QUITE FRANKLY, I'M TOO DESPERATE TO UPLOAD THIS TO WRITE OUT THE FULL LIST RIGHT NOW, BUT I WILL BE SOON**_


	15. The Gifts

Chapter Fifteen: The Gifts

The sun peered shyly above the Long Island Sound. High in the sky flew the early birds, whistling a good morning tune to the waking world. Their high sopranos chorused with the chirp of the crickets and the gentle breaking of waves; it was as if the beauty of the day had come to life in sound. A delicate breeze filtered through the trees, cooling the warmth of the mid-summer day.

It was August third.

Camp Half Blood was notably calm that morning. The demigods slept soundly in their beds, at peace, for once, as nobody had suffered from nightmares. It seemed that Morpheus had treated them kindly that night. And now, as Hyperion awoke with a stretch, a yawn and the wink of a sunrise, the demigods slept on, cherishing their rare peace.

Quiet and tranquil, it remained this way for quite some time. The pegasi dozed gently in their stables; the nymphs napped comfortably in the branches of the woods and the naiads floated at ease in the canoe lake, resting their watery spirits.

And Olympus was glittering, of course, for its Queen was very excited.

Hera sat on the balcony of her chamber with a smile on her face. It was very rare that she felt excitement: having lived for many millennia, she had seen and experienced almost everything. She had never before, however, had a demigod child – let alone twins – and so she found herself often very excited by things that were happening in their lives.

The sunshine in the heavens shone like the love in her heart – bright and unconditional. Her eyes shone with pride as she watched the Seer Cloud, watching her children as they woke. Everyday she watched this and she never grew tired of it. Oh, how she cherished these twins.

_My Queen?_

"Yes, pet?"

How much longer must_ you wait?_

"I am unsure," Hera said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should wait until they retire for the evening…"

_My lady, what of Zeus?_

Now Hera turned sharply to face her peacock. "What of him?"

_What will happen when he hears about your gift? He will know that you did it to spite him._

"Me? Spiteful?" A cold laugh escaped her lips. "I am never spiteful."

Lysander's tail feathers twitched.

"Oh, well, alright, perhaps I am a little spiteful on the odd occasion… but that is irrelevant. Zeus has his-"her lip curled, "-children… plenty of them, I might add, and now I have my twins. My children and my husband have nothing whatsoever to do with one another. Zeus may think whatever he wants about my gift to them. I find his opinion to be completely unimportant."

Lysander chirped softly. _You are wise, my Queen._

"Zeus has convinced himself that he is the only one on Olympus of any importance. I, however, face greater powers."

_Ouranos, _he whispered.

"Exactly." The Queen of the Heavens reached out her arm and caressed the emerald tips of feathers, turning back to her Seer Cloud with an elusive smile. "Not long now, my prince and princess," she murmured as the images in the cloud shifted. "Not long now."

**Xoxoxox**

"I think I ate too much," grumbled Jacob. "I shouldn't have had that last plate of ribs."

"I told you you'd regret it," Thea chided.

"I really like ribs, though."

"I know. You eat about a hundred every day."

"Drama queen."

"Rib muncher."

Jacob raised his eyebrow at his twin. "That's probably the worst insult I've ever heard."

"Give me a break," she muttered.

Jacob shook his head. It was roughly seven o'clock and they were sitting in a large group on the Long Island Sound, basking in the warmth of the evening sun. The day had flown by in a blur of heat, presents, training and food – the type of day that Jacob could live forever.

He looked down at his feet and smiled. Gone were his battered blue Vans, torn at the edges and stained with mud; now he wore a brand new pair of black and white Converse, the gift Thea had given him for their birthday. Being an orphan, Jacob had never really had a good birthday present and now he couldn't stop admiring his footwear.

Chiron had organized Jacob's present for Thea: a thick, leather A-Z of the gods and their stories. Jacob had sought his advice on where to find one two weeks earlier and Chiron had promised it would be in their cabin on the morning of their birthday, and it was. Thea had practically cried when she opened it… out of respect, Jacob had tried his hardest not to laugh.

"I could get used to all of this sunshine," voiced Lyra from behind the pages of a book called _'MOCKINGJAY'. _"I was so hot before lunch that I skipped archery completely and headed for the canoe lake."

"Damn, I hadn't even thought to take a dip in the lake… I just sat in the shade and sweated. Next time I'm going swimming."

"The naiads were loving it, having so many boys around with their shirts off." She rolled her eyes. "They were flirting like mad. My sister and I just steered clear."

"Is your sister British, too?"

"No, she's from Michigan."

"Ah."

"I know."

Lyra slipped back into _'MOCKINGJAY'. _It was nice to talk to her again – ever since her boyfriend had returned from a quest she'd been spending a lot more time with him and less time relaxing on the Sound. Lyra was good company: she didn't talk too much and she didn't ask too many questions.

Jacob was just leaning forwards to brush some dirt off of his new shoes when he caught sight of a blonde head in the distance. He craned his neck for a better view but stopped when a small chuckle made him frown.

"What?" he said.

"You," she replied.

"What about me?"

"Oh, never mind," she smiled slyly.

"Um, okay." He turned to his sister and hesitated. "Thea… is it alright if I-"

"Yes but don't be out late," she told him.

"Hey, you're not my mom."

"I'm as good as. No, seriously," she lowered her voice. "Don't stay out late. I don't like being on my own in the cabin."

"Okay."

With that Jacob hopped to his feet and started to walk towards the blonde figure. As Ellie Raymond grew closer he saw that she was carrying a large Tupperware box. When she saw him she waved.

"Hey!" she grinned. "I was just coming to find you."

"Really? Why?"

"Because-"she handed him the box, "-I made you a birthday present."

"You made me a present? Seriously?"

"Yep."

Ellie plopped down onto the grass and Jacob followed. He peeled the lid off of the box and opened up the foil inside, revealing what could only be described as a perfect mess of a chocolate-chip cookie. It looked like the mix had been enough to bake fifty individual cookies but instead it had been cooked as one giant heap. It was misshapen and resembled a heap of chocolate-chip Minotaur dung, and it was possibly the best thing Jacob had ever seen.

"Ta-da!" chimed Ellie, holding out a pink wax candle and lighting it with a match. Her smile made her eyes crinkle: she was proud of her handiwork. "So? What do you think?"

"It's awesome!" Jake smiled honestly. "Nobody's ever made me a birthday cookie before." He blew out the candle and broke off a piece of the heap, gesturing for Ellie to do the same.

Truth be told, the cookie tasted like heaven.

"Tilley from the Demeter cabin helped me bake this. She's really sweet, you know. I think she likes to help people. This would have been a disaster if she hadn't stepped in… I didn't have a recipe. I was just going to throw a bunch of ingredients together and hope for the best."

"It's a good thing she turned up, then."

"So what have you done today? 'Sweet Seventeen' and all that."

"Not a lot, really," he shrugged, "but it's been great. I woke up, Thea gave me some Converse, we ate breakfast, trained, lunch, trained, dinner, the Sound, and now I'm here."

"Sounds like a sweet day," Ellie praised. "Did Hera get you anything?

The idea of his mother getting him anything for his birthday hadn't even crossed his mind. "No. She's never got me anything before."

"No, my dad has never got me anything, either. It must be a god thing."

"Yeah, I bet it is."

For a while they sat in silence, eating cookie and watching the sun go down. Soon enough the conversation began again and they started talking about cookies and cakes and all things delicious.

They stayed blissfully like that for a long time.

**Xoxoxox**

Darkness had fallen suddenly. Thea Harman shuffled through the quiet campus, grumbling to herself about the humidity and what it would be dong to her hair. Her world was draped in a thin layer of negativity, for Thea was annoyed. Annoyed with Jacob because he'd left her to talk to that Ellie girl; annoyed with Matt Finley for not wishing her a happy birthday, and annoyed with herself for getting annoyed so easily.

Where was Jacob? She hadn't seen him for at least an hour since he'd disappeared with that blonde sissy. That was at least an hour ago and gods knows where they had gone.

Urgh, she thought. It was late. All she wanted to do was go back to the cabin and curl up with her new book. Maybe there would be a-

Thea froze. She didn't move. A sudden sound had disturbed the gloom of her thoughts – a sound she recognized and associated with panic.

"Zeus?" she shouted. "Zeus? Where are you, boy? Zeusy?"

Like a small golden bear, Zeus bolted around the corner of the forge and rammed straight into her, his bark loud like thunder.

"What's wrong, Zeus? What is it?"

Bark!

"Is it Riley? Is he okay?"

Bark! Bark!

"Show me where he is, boy. Come on, Zeus."

Zeus was a clever hound. He started running at full-pelt, Thea struggling to keep up with him, her chest tight with fear and lack of breath. They burst into the Olympian cabins and she looked around, frantic.

"Riley? Hello? Are you there?"

"Hey, Thea."

She jumped at the sound of his voice. She could see him now in the shadows of her cabin, waiting for her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yep, I'm fine. Did Zeus freak you out? Sorry. He gets a little over-excited sometimes. I swear he's just a pup inside."

Thea wheezed as she caught her breath and made her way towards him. "I thought you were in trouble or something."

"Me? In trouble? Never."

"Well then why did you send him to get me?"

"I thought it would be faster than me finding you."

"Oh, right." Thea sat down on the steps outside her cabin, feeling hot and stuffy. She fanned herself with her hand, which made no change.

"Where's your brother?"

"I don't know. Out with Ellie Raymond, I guess."

"Oh, cool."

A silenced fell between them. The humid air became cooler and more comfortable, softened with a gentle breeze. The stars emerged from behind the clouds, winking at the moon with sly white eyes while Zeus rolled playfully on the grass.

Riley Hart cleared his throat and stepped out of the shadows, his hands behind his back and an unusual shyness about him.

"What?" Thea asked eventually.

Riley fidgeted and cleared his throat. "I've got you a birthday present."

"Seriously?"

He brought his arms out from behind his back: what he held was quite exquisite – a plant pot containing one blossomed flower. It was four inches tall and a magnificent shade of silver, orb-like and glowing, with its wide petals open and facing the moon. The plant shone and seemed to emit a glow of peace, for when she looked at it all of Thea's negativity disappeared. She took it gently in her hands like a child.

"You got this for _me_?"

Nodding, Riley scratched his ear and looked vaguely to her left. "It's called Lunalace. It blossoms at night and removes negative energy so that you have peaceful dreams. I figured, you know, being a demigod and everything, it might help you to sleep better…"

Thea gently touched one of the petals. "Riley, this is beautiful. I can't believe you got me this…"

He shrugged.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

"It's fine."

Thea placed the plant pot on the steps and sat down again. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Riley rubbed his eyes. "I'm alright," he said. "Where are you?"

"Sitting down. Here-" She reached out and took his elbow, guiding him to sit beside her.

"Thanks," he said. "Had a nice birthday?"

"Oh, yeah, it's been great. My dads sent me a necklace."

"Is it nice?"

"Oh, yeah. It's long and gold with a little emerald gemstone shaped like a heart." She pulled the necklace from her blouse and placed it into his hand for him to feel. "The chain's really thin which is how I like my jewelry. It's very pretty."

Riley's hands moved delicately as he felt it before handing it back to her. "Pretty," he commented. "That's a nice present."

"My dads have a good eye for gifts. They only ever buy me one on my birthday but it's always something I really like. What about your parents?"

"… What about them?"

"Do they get you presents?"

"No, not really. The only time I've ever had contact with my mom was when she claimed me and – well, you know." He tapped his eyes. "Yeah."

"What about your dad? Doesn't he get you presents?"

Riley paused, looking out in Zeus' direction. "My dad doesn't, no."

"Why not?"

A longer pause. "He's not around anymore."

Thea could have slapped her own stupidity. "Oh, Riley, I'm-"

"Don't say the 'S' word, please. It doesn't do any good." He sighed heavily. "You can't change the past. It's done."

Thea leant her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. I don't really think before I speak."

"It's alright."

"If you ever want someone to talk to," she offered, "I'm a pretty good listener."

A humorless chuckle broke Riley's smile. "Thanks but I'm not much of a talker. Not like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…"

Thea nudged him with her elbow and they both smiled. The night was warm and the topic of Riley's dad evaporated, leaving behind a gentle flow of thoughts and comments. It was a strangely comfortable place, sitting together with the Lunalace lighting their night.

They were at peace together.

**Xoxoxox**

By the time Ellie and Jacob had left the Long Island Sound, only a quarter of the cookie heap was left. Both of them were tempted to eat it but Jacob insisted that they didn't so that he could take it home for his sister. Coming from Jacob, that was dedication – nothing usually stood in the way of him and his food.

The two of them had spent most of the night at the lava wall, of all places, having races to see who could reach the top first. It was easy to determine who was the fastest since they were both running for their life, (it wasn't hard to do that when a fireball was aiming for your butt), and more often than not it was Jacob who won. He was, however, the most liable to get burnt.

Now Jacob was heading to his cabin and Ellie was heading to hers. He looked back into the distance but saw that she was already out of sight. Jacob sniffed the cookie tub and smiled.

It had been a very good birthday.

When he turned into the Olympian cabins, Jacob saw Zeus digging up a flower patch. Thea and Riley were sitting on the steps of cabin two. Apparently Riley was only there whilst Jacob wasn't because, as soon as they saw him, Riley called Zeus and they said goodbye to Thea.

As Riley passed him he said, "Happy birthday, man," and clapped him on the shoulders.

"Thanks, bro," Jacob returned, confused but not questioning.

Thea stood waiting for him by the steps.

"I saved you some birthday cookie that Ellie made. It's really good. It took a lot of effort to save. What's that plant?"

"Lunalace," Thea smiled as he handed her the cookie box. "It blossoms at night and helps you sleep peacefully. I was thinking about putting it on the bedside table between our bunks, so that it helps us both."

"Does that mean I'll stop having nightmares about marshmallows eating my head?"

"Probably."

"Then that's fine by me."

Jacob was just shaking off the memory of his odd nightmares when Thea opened the door of the cabin and squeaked in shock. "Jacob! Look, _look_!"

On each of their beds was a long, shiny golden package. For a moment they simply stood there frozen in the doorway, staring at the packages as if they were aliens. Then, suddenly, Jacob leapt at his, shouting, "There's a note! There's a note, Thea!

It was a small golden piece of paper with an inscription in emerald green. He peeled it off of the wrapping paper and held it to his eyes, taking a while for his dyslexic eyes to decipher the calligraphic, feminine writing.He read it aloud.

_ "Seventeen years you have lived undefended, though now the time has come for change. Protect yourself with this mastery, Anax, for only to you will its true powers be revealed. Treat it as a friend, for a friend will be ever faithful. – H."_

"Mine doesn't say Anax," Thea frowned. "Mine says Bios."

Jacob looked at this sister and smiled. Seconds later he was tearing away the golden paper and was staring down at an exquisite birthday present.

It was a sword.

Oh, and it was such a handsome piece of weaponry… handsome but dangerous. A double-edged celestial bronze long-sword with a golden handle, encrusted with one large emerald green jewel. He lifted it and gasped at how perfect it felt in his hands, weight and balanced to his exact needs. The metal shone, glittering with beauty: Jacob's own reflection stared back at

"Damn…" he murmured.

"I know," Thea echoed quietly. In her hands she held a deadly spear, also fashioned from bronze and gold, encrusted with an emerald jewel. The spear literally _looked_ perfect in her hands as if she was born to hold it.

"Damn," he repeated.

"It looks like Hera went out of her way to forge these. This crafting… it's immaculate. It has to be Cyclops-made."

"This is the best thing ever," Jacob whispered. He looked up at his sister with honest eyes. "No, seriously. I have my own sword. This is so – damn – cool. Wait, what's that?"

He looked at the base of the hilt where one small word was engraved into the gold: _Anax._

"Bios," murmured Thea.

The twins stared at their gifts for a long time. "Thank you," Jacob murmured. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Thea stroked her hands along the streamline metal as if she couldn't believe she was really holding it.

"What do you think she means? In the note – 'only to you will its true powers be revealed'?" wondered Thea aloud.

Jacob thought briefly, turning the sword from side to side. "I think," he said conclusively, "that it means we've got a hell of a lot of training to do tomorrow."

They shared a sly, elusive smile that was reflected in the Heavens.

_"My babies," _whispered the Queen.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**HELLO, I HAVE MISSED YOU. **

**I hope that this chapter is enough to satisfy your long (and unfair) wait for updates. I know I am a terrible author for being so inconsistent with this story, but I want you to know that even though there have been periods where I have not updated, I have **_**never**_** given up on this story. I have always known that chapters will be updated, even if it is an eventual updating, and that this story will be completed. I love the characters too much to abandon it. I can't promise you that I'll be updating every week or something like that, but I **_**can**_** promise you that I will not give up. I will not be able to rest until this story can be labeled "Completed".**

**To those of you who haven't noticed, I have removed the previous chapter. (It was the one where Riley and Ellie were sneaking out at night.) This was a difficult decision but one that I had to make in order to continue the story: I was making it too complicated for myself as a writer. This is a sub-plot I have been forced to remove. However, I can tell you that Riley and Ellie were **_**not**_** nor have they ever been romantically involved. It was a very small sub-plot – it would have only lasted a couple more chapters. If anybody wants to know where this was going to go, feel free to inbox me and I'll gladly tell you. (It's nothing special which is why I chose to remove it).**

**Also, thanks to reviews I have received it was brought to my attention that I had been using the Roman spelling Uranus instead of Ouranos. This horrified me as I always criticize people for confusing the Roman and the Greek gods… (Unfortunately I haven't read Heroes of Olympus yet, though it is on my 'TO-READ' list.)**

**Please review or message me on your opinions on this story and where it is going. It would be so lovely to hear from my dedicated readers again! I love y'all so damn much I can't even say! XD**

***Minotaur-poop cookies to all of you***

**Hahs xx**


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